o>  ■ 


2  7  17 


A  HISTORY 


OF 


PIANOFORTE-PLAYING 


AND 


PIANOFORTE-LITERATURE 


BY 


C,  F.  WEITZMANN. 


NEW  YORK:  G.  SCHIRMER. 
1897. 


Copyright,  1893, 
By    G.     SCHIRMER. 


A   HISTORY 


OF 


PIANOFORTE-PLAYING 


PIANOFORTE-LITERATURE 


C.  F.  WEiTZMANN, 


WITH    MUSICAL    APPENDICES    AND    A    SUPPLEMENT    CONTAINING    THE 

HISTORY    OF    THE    PIANOFORTE    ACCORDING    TO    THE 

LATEST  RESEARCHES,  AND  SUITABLY 

ILLUSTRATED. 


WITH  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  AUTHOR,  AND  NOTES, 

BY 

OTTO    LESSMANN. 


FROM  THE  SECOND  AUGMENTED  AND  REVISED  GERMAN  EDITION, 

BY 

DR.    TH.    BAKER. 


o^  NEW   YORK:    C    SCHIRMER. 

^  ■    1897. 


?^ 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 


By  Otto  Lessmann. 

Carl  Friedrich  AVeitzmann  departed  this  life  soon  after  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  second  edition  of  his  principal  work ;  on  Nov.  T,  1880, 
the  keen  eyes  of  the  manful  champion  closed  for  ever,  in  the  73rd 
year  of  his  age.     "Weitzmann  was  ])orn  on  Ang.  !(>,  1808,  at  Berlin, 
where  he  began,  under  the  guidance  of  the  violinist  C.  W.  Henning 
and  the  composer  Bernhard  Klein,  his  practical  and  thereotical  studies, 
which  he  finished  in  Cassel,  from  1827  onward,  under  Ludwig  Spohr 
and  Moritz  Hauptmann.     In  1832  he  entered  the  tlieati-e  orchestra 
at  Riga  as  violinist,  being  at  the  same  time  engaged  as  chorus-director. 
Together  with  Heinrich  Dorn,  tlien  Kapellmeister  at  Riga,  Weitzmann 
founded  a  Singing  Society  in  that  city,  for  which    he    composed   a 
number  of  pieces  for  vocal  chorus.      In  1834  he  relinquished  his  po- 
sition in  Riga  for  that  of  Musikdirector  in  Reval,  M'here  some  dramatic 
compositions  by  himself — ''Rauberliel)c'\  ''Walpurgisnacht",  and  "Lor- 
beerbaum  und  Bettelstab"— were  brought  out.     Two  years  later  Weitz- 
mann joined  the  orchesti-a  of  the  Imperial  Opera  at  St.  Petersburg 
as  first  violinist,  becoming  at   the  same   time  Musikdirector   in    the 
\  Church  of  St.  Anne.     Here,  too,  he  founded  a  German  Liedertafel, 
/  which  he  conducted  until,  on  the  expiration  of  an  eleven  years'  ser- 
I   vice  as  musician   to  the  Russian  Court,  he  left  St.  Petersburg,  gene- 
rously pensioned,  first  making  a  concert-tour   througli   Finland  witli 
the  oboe  virtuoso  Henry  Brod,  and  afterwards  settling  in  Paris.     Thei-e 
'  he  applied  himself  assiduously  to  the  study  of  the  history  and  theory 
i  of  music,  which  he  continued  successfully  after  removing  to  London 
in  1847,  where  he  was  engaged  as  a  violinist  in  the  Italian  Opera. 
'   During  this  same  year  he  returned  to  Berlin,  where  he  settled  per- 


—   Yl   — 

mimentlv,  enjoyiui;-  u  liigli  reputation  as  a  teacher  of  harmony  and 
counterpoint,  at  lirst  in  Stern's  Conservatory,  and  later  in  Tausig's 
"Schule  des  holieren  Clavierspiels  "  (School  for  advanced  Pianoforte- 
playing),  and  also  as  a  private  instructor. 

Armed  with  the  panoply  of  the  well-e(|uipped  musical  theoretician, 
Weitzmann,  as  a  champion  of  the  artistic  conceptions  of  Liszt  and 
Wagner,  first  entered  the  arena,  in  which  was  raging  the  battle  waged 
for  and  against  the  justification  of  progress  pioneered  in  music  both 
in  regard  to  harmony  and  form.  In  a  number  of  writings  he  took 
Ids  stand  decidedly  on  the  side  of  these  two  masters,  and  his  "  Har- 
moniesystem",  to  which  a  prize  Avas  awarded  in  1860,  established  on 
a  firm  logical  basis  the  practical  acquisitions  which,  in  the  works  of 
the  "neo-German"  school,  were  a  stumbling-block  to  the  theoreticians 
of  the  old  school.  While  earlier  writings,  such  as  "  The  Augmented 
Triad  "  (1853),  "  The  Diminished  Chord  of  the  Seventh  "  (1854)  (publ. 
by  Th,  Chr.  Fr.  Enslin — Richard  Schoetz— ,  Berlin),  and  the  "  History 
of  the  Ch.  of  the  Seventh",  had  discovered  Weitzmann's  revolutionary 
tendencies  in  the  field  of  music,  his  "  Ilarmoniesystem  "  won  him  for 
good  and  all  the  reputation  of  being  the  thereotical  henchman  of  the 
musical  radicals.  Weitzmann  showed  this  to  be  his  unmistakable 
wish  in  the  sub-title  of  his  "  Ilarmoniesystem "  by  designating 
the  latter  as  "An  explanatory  disquisition  on  and  musico-theoretical 
justification  of  the  transformation  and  evolution  of  Harmony  through 
the  recent  creations  of  Art".  His  opponents,  the  champions  of  the 
musical  "  Zopf  "  (literally  "  pigtail",  the  obstinate  prejudice  of  narrow- 
minded  pedantry),  who  fell  upon  the  work  to  tear  it  to  pieces  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  their  worn-out  musical  grammar,  were  answered 
by  Weitzmann  in  a  second  paper,  "  The  New  Science  of  Harmony 
versus  the  Old  "  (C.  F.  Kahnt,  Leipzig,  1861).  That  he  after  all  had 
the  last  word  in  the  hotly  contested  battle,  is  proved  by  the  revolu- 
tion of  public  opinion  in  regard  to  the  masters  Schumann,  Liszt,  and 
Wagner. 

His  controversies  concerning  modern  music  did  not  hinder  Weitz- 
mann from  attentively  studying  antiquity ;  the  fruits  of  this  study  he 
garnered  in  a  "  History  of  Grecian  Music  "  (Th.  Chr.  Fr.  Enslin,  Ber- 
lin, 1855).  In  1863  was  issued,  as  Part  III  of  the  Lebert-Stark 
Pianoforte  School,  the  "History  of  Clavier-playing  and  Clavier-Lite- 
rature", pnblished  later  as  a  separate  work,  in  a  second  edition  aug- 
mented by  a  "  History  of  tlie  Pianoforte". — A  number  of  meritorious 
ai-ti'-lcs  liave  appeared    in  various  musical    journals,    among    them   a 


—   YIl    — 

warm  encomium  of  Carl  Tausig,  "■  the  last  of  the  virtuosi''.  Weitz- 
mann's  contrapuntal  skill  was  very  considerable,  as  is  sufficiently 
attested  in  his  "Studies  in  Counterpoint"  (Schuberth  &  Co.,  Leipzig,) 
"Musical  Puzzles",  Canons  for  4  hands,  2  Books  (same  publ.)  and  his 
"1800  Preludes  and  Modulations",  Book  1,  classic;  Book  2,  romantic 
(Th.  Chr.  Fr.  Enslin,  Berlin);  likewise  an  analytical  treatise  on  the 
2-part  Fugue  (autographed). 

As  a  composer  Weitzmann  did  little  to  attract  public  attention. 
Besides  the  above  mentioned  dramatic  compositions  he  published  only 
a  few  books  of  songs  and  vocal  works,  and  some  pianoforte  pieces 
for  2  and  4  hands,  among  the  latter  being  a  few  "  Yalses  loobies " 
(Bote  &  Bock,  Berlin),  which  are  simple  and  natural  in  feeling  and 
pleasing  in  effect. 

Weitzmann's  character  was  upright  and  frank,  and  before  long 
years  of  sickness  had  diminished  his  2)owers  he  was  animated  by  the 
liveliest  interest  for  everything  which  concerned  his  art  and  his  calling 
as  a  writer  on  art.  His  opinions,  which  he  defended  with  circum- 
spection, readiness  and  tenacity,  were  for  him  the  sole  guide  in  all 
his  actions ;  for,  as  Tappert  wrote  after  Weitzmann's  death,  "  He  need- 
ed neither  office  nor  preferment,  sought  neither  honors  nor  renown". 

May  the  memory  of  this  able  man  live  on  as  that  of  a  well- 
deserving  champion  in  the  triumphal  progress  of  our  sublime  art. 

Charlottenburg,  October,  1887. 

Otto  Lessmann. 


^^^^' 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  and  INTRODUCTION. 


Every  thinking  pianist,  who  would  avoid  the  appearance  of  color- 
lessness  and  one-sidedness  in  his  compositions  and  performances,  will 
perceive  the  necessity  of  attaining  familiarity  not  merely  with  the 
more  important  productions  of  the  present  day,  but  with  the  prom 
inent  works  in  the  earlier  literature  of  his  art  as  well.  Hitherto, 
however,  an  orderly  historical  view,  comprehending  the  entire  field 
of  cjajier-literature,  and  at  the  same  time  calling  to  mind  the  names 
of  those  masters  to  whose  activity  we  owe  the  perfection  and  exten- 
sion of  our  art,  has  been  wanting.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present 
work  to  l)ridge  over  this  sensible  gap  in  writings  devoted  to  the 
history  of  music. 

The  author  feels  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  give  some  explanation 
concerning  the  arrangement  and  grouping  of  the  contents  of  his  work. 
The  earlier  history  of  clavier-playing  closes  with  the  disappearance 
of  the  older  keyboard  instruments — the  Clavichord,  the  coyly  tremu- 
lous tone  of  which  was  produced  by  metallic  pins  or  tangents, 
striking  and  setting  in  vibration  the  sti'ings  when  the  keys  were  de- 
pressed ;  and  the  sweejjing  Harpsichord,  the  strings  of  which  were 
twanged  by  quills;  the  authoi'  regarded  it  as  most  practical  to  trace 
successively  the  earlier  schools  in  Italy,  England,  France,  and  Ger- 
many down  to  the  above  period.  The  modern  history  of  clavier- 
playing  begins  with  the  predominance  of  the  Pianoforte,  in  which 
hammers,  striking  the  strings  gently  or  powerfully,  admitted  of  the 
greatest  variety  in  the  shading  of  the  tone,  and  gradually  evolved 
the  most  manifold  effects  in  pla^^ng  and  means  of  expression.  And 
henceforward  the  creative  masters  follow  each  other  at  such  short 
intervals,  that  the  author  considered  it  needful  to  point  out  the  in- 
fiuence  of  each  one,  even  down  to  his  ])upils  and  imitators,  before 


—     IX    — 

taking  up  any  conteniporaiy  eniinent  in  other  ways,  tliougli  at  the 
same  time  never  losing  sight  of  monientons  meetings  between  cele- 
brated mnsicians  and  rivals  in  art. 

The  earliest  history  of  clavier-j^laying  goes  hand  in  hand  with 
that  of  organ-playing ;  not  until  the  l)eginning  of  the  16th  century  do 
the  cla\aer  performances  of  noted  organists  sometimes  find  special 
mention.  At  that  time  the  two  chief  species  of  claviers  alluded  to 
above  were  already  in  existence ;  their  compass,  with  the  chromatic 
scale,  embraced  3  octaves  (A — a),  and  sometimes  even  4  octaves  (F — f), 
the  succession  of  white  and  black  keys  being  the  same  as  at  present.* 
In  their  tuning,  the  claviers  were  already  tempered  to  ^iich  an  extent, 
that  the  diatonic  ecclesiastical  keys  predominant  down  to  about  the 
17th  century,  to  which  a  chromatic  tone  was  seldom  added,  and 
which  also  occurred  transposed  by  a  fifth  lower  (then  in  every  case 
with  one  flat  in  the  signature),  might  be  employed  with  tolerable 
purity.**  By  the  estal)lishment  of  the  equal  temperament,  about  ITOO, 
Sebastian  Bach  and  his  contemporaries  were  enabled  to  write  com- 
positions in  all  the  modern  major  and  minor  keys  for  the  clavier; 
the  ecclesiastical  modes  then  vanished  entirely  as  far  as  their  peculiar 
and  purely  diatonic  character  is  concerned,  and  the  widest  field  was 
thrown  open  to  modulation. 

In  some  manuscript  specimens  of  counterpoint  of  the  13th  century, 
the  oldest  which  have  as  yet  been  discovered,  the  notes  of  vocal 
music  for  two  or  more  parts  are  in  some  cases  written  one  above 
the  other  on  a  single  staff  of  8,  9,  10,  or  12  lines.  In  various  more 
recent,  though  equally  rare,  specimens  we  find  similar  staves  of  10 
lines,  the  lowest  of  which  is  marked  with  a  F  (Gamma),  the  fourth 
with  the  F-clef,  the  sixth  with  the  C-clef,  the  eighth  with  the  G-clef, 
and  the  tenth  with  dd,  the  notes  of  the  several  parts  thus  standing 
in  conjunction.  For  greater  distinctness,  the  notes  of  the  several 
parts  ^vere  sometimes  distinguished  by  color  or  shape,  the  soprano 
and  bass  having  square  red  notes,  the  alto  triangular  green  notes, 
and  the  tenor  round  black  notes.  In  still  later  similar  attempts, 
music  for  the  organ  and  clavier  was  written  on  6  lines  intended  for 
the   right   hand  and   8   for  the  left.     Strange  to   say,  besides  these 


*See  "Musica  getutsclit  iind  aussgezogen  diirch  Sebastianum  Yirduni,^", 
Basel,  1511. 

**See  Toscanella  in  musica  di  niesser  Piero  Aron,  Venice,  l.")20,  Bivisione 
del  Monarcliordo  per  tuoni  e  semituoni,  cap.  XXXX ;  and  also  De  la  partiei- 
patione  et  modo  de  accordare  I'instrumento,  cap.  XLI. 


—      X      — 

and  similar  attempts  made  only  by  isolated  composers,  not  a  single 
actual  score,  either  written  or  printed,  of  any  vocal  or  instrumental 
composition  in  several  parts  of  tlie  loth,  Ittth,  15th,  or  even  of  the 
tirst  half  of  the  16tli  century  has  been  found,  so  that  it  almost  looks 
as  if  the  contrapuntists  of  that  time  wrote  out  all  their  compositions 
immediately  in  separate  parts,  without  sketching  them  at  first  in 
score.  Further,  as  the  har  did  not  appear  until  the  second  half  of 
the  10th  century,  together  with  the  score,  it  is  evident,  that  previous 
to  that  time  only  the  most  skilful  and  thoroughly  trained  singers  or 
players  could  successfully  undertake  the  performance  of  a  new  com- 
position, especially  when  the  composer  himself  was  not  present  at 
rehearsals.  Still  greater  difficulties  were  to  be  overcome  by  the  or- 
ganist who  either  could  or  would  not  at  all  times  follow  simply  the 
dictates  of  his  own  fancy.  For  as  organ  music,  like  all  instrumental 
music  of  the  period,  was  merely  an  echo  of  the  vocal  music,  the 
organist  was  obliged,  before  attempting  to  play  a  piece  intended  for 
voices,  to  study  the  several  parts,  which  were  either  printed  sepa- 
rately or  at  best  on  opposite  pages  of  the  music-book  in  such  wise, 
that  the  upper  half  of  the  left-hand  page  bore  the  highest  part,  the 
lower  half  the  lowest  part,  while  the  two  middle  parts  were  similarly 
ordered  on  the  right-hand  page.  Until  toward  the  end  of  the  16th 
century  it  was  the  duty  of  church-organists  in  Italy  to  introduce  the 
regular  a  cappella  compositions  by  preludes  and  intonations,  to  con- 
nect the  various  divisions  of  the  vocal  mass  by  interludes,  to  answer 
certain  vocal  strains  on  the  organ,  and  at  times  to  perform  the  verses 
of  hymns  on  the  organ  in  alternation  with  the  singers.  The  choir 
was  but  seldom  supported  by  the  organ,  in  the  psalm  tunes  and  cho- 
rales. The  papal  choir  at  Kome  has  retained  pure  vocal  music  ex- 
clusively down  to  the  present  day  in  full  simplicity ;  but  about  the 
year  1600,  so  important  in  the  annals  of  music,  there  w^as  initiated 
the  so-called  "seconda  pratica  di  musica",  the  singers  being  thence- 
forward continually  supported  or  accompanied  by  the  organ  or  other 
instruments.  Vocal  music  pure  and  simple  thus  disappeared  entirely 
from  the  church,  and  the  difliculties  of  the  organist  accompanying 
the  various  vocal  and  instrumental  parts  continually  increased,  till 
at  length  he  was  furnished  with  a  continuous  bass  part  to  his  accom- 
paniment, over  the  notes  of  wdiicli  the  harmonies  of  the  other  parts 
co-operating  were  indicated  by  figures.  Such  a  bass  part,  supporting 
the  whole  harmonic  structure,  w^as  styled  a  hasso  continuo^  hasso  per 
Vorgano,  hasso  princijpale^  or  hasso  generate. 


—     xr    — 

In  Germany,  on  the  other  liand,  where,  as  in  otlier  coniitries, 
tlie  singers  liad  sung  from  notes  since  the  appearance  of  tiie  tirst 
contrapuntists,  the  instrumentalists  employed  from  the  very  beginning 
of  the  16tli  century  a  kind  of  notation  with  letters,  which  Yii-dung 
mentions  as  early  as  1511,  with  i-eference  to  which  Martin  Agricola, 
in  his  Musica  instrumentalis  (1529),  gives  instructions  "for  playing  on 
the  organ,  harp,  lute,  violin,  and  all  instruments  and  stringed  instru- 
ments, according  to  the  rightly  established  tabulature".  In  this  German 
Tabulature,  in  accordance  with  a  usage  handed  down  to  our  time, 
the  tones  of  the  lowest  octave  were  indicated  by  capital  letters,  those 
of  the  next  octave  by  small  letters,  and  the  others  in  succession  by 
small  letters  with  lines  drawn  above  them,  being  called  the  once- 
lined,  twice-lined,  thrice-lined  octave,  etc. 

CDEFGAH(B)  cdefgah  (b)  c  d  e  f  g  a  li  (b)  c  etc. 
and  set  one  above  the  other  in  two,  three,  four,  or  more  rows  as 
required,  in  movements  having  several  parts  to  be  executed  by  the 
organist.  The  relative  length  of  the  tones  was  indicated  by  dots, 
hooks,  or  cross-lines  over  the  letters  in  question,  the  rests  being  marked 
by  other  special  signs.  This  organ  tabulature,  immediately  after  its 
invention,  was  also  used  for  comi3ositions  for  the  clavier,  and  down 
to  1650  was  exclusively  employed  in  Germany  for  keyboard  instru- 
ments. The  organists  in  Italy,  on  the  contrary,  never  took  to  the 
alphabetic  tabulature  ;  in  that  country,  as  said  before,  various  kinds 
of  note  tabulatures  were  tried  for  giving  the  player  a  convenient 
view  of  the  several  parts  of  a  composition,  until  finally  he  was  pro- 
vided with  a  full  score  for  the  execution  of  pieces  in  several  parts, 
such  as  obtains  to-day.  But  the  compression  of  all  the  parts  of  a 
movement  in  more  than  2  parts  on  only  two  staves  is  not  found,  even 
in  Italy,  until  after  the  appearance  of  the  hcbsso  continue  or  thorough- 
bass, i.  e.  not  until  the  first  half  of  the  ITth  century.  The  setting  of 
separate  parts  of  a  composition  on  an  ecpial  number  of  staves  one 
above  the  other  was  also  brought  into  use  in  Germany  about  the 
middle  of  the  17th  century,  and  there  styled  the  ''  Italian  Tabulature" 
(intavolatura),  or  "  Partitur"  (partitura,  score),  though  the  German  al- 
phabetic tabulature  still  found  adherents  and  defenders  down  to  the 
beginning  of  the  18th  century. 

^^^^^ 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


Page. 
Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Author V 

Author's  Preface  and  Introduction VIII 

Clavichord,    Harpsichord,    and  Pianoforte.      Organ-playing  and  Clavier 
playing.      Compass    and    Tuning  of  the   earlier  Claviers.      Temperament. 
Oldest  specimens  of  Counterpoint.     Scores.    Thorough-bass.     German  and 
Italian  Tabulature. 

Table  of  Contents XIII 

Errata XIX 

EARLIER   HISTORY. 

THE   CLAVICHORD. 

I.     The  strict  contrapuntal  Organ-style  and  the  freer  Clavier-style. 

The  Earlier  Italian  School  of  Clavier-playing 3 

Venice.  Celebrated  organ-players  from  the  14th  century  on.  Francesco 
Landini,  Francesco  da  P6saro,  Bernado  di  Stefanino  Murer, — Adrian  Willaert 
(1527)  founder  of  the  Venetian  School  of  Music.  Development  of  the  Instru 
mental  style.  Jachet  de  Buus.  Girolamo  Parabosco.  Instrumenti  da  penna. 
Spinet,  Virginal,  Monacord. — Chromatic  music.  Nicolo  Vicentino,  Cipriano 
de  Rore,  Gioseffo  Zarlino. — Fantasia,  Ricercare,  Contrapunto. — Emancipa- 
tion of  vocal  music  from  the  shackles  of  diatonics. — Claudio  Merulo  da 
Correggio  (see  Musical  Appendix),  Annibale  Padovano,  Andrea  and  Giovanni 
Gabrieli. — Toccata,  Canzona,  Sonata  ;  Fugue,  Canon,  Ricercata.  Folk- 
songs. Canzoni  villanesche.  Gagliarda,  Corrente,  Ciacona,  Giga. — 
Josquin's  Theory  of  Counterpoint  and  Harmony.  Organ  and  Clavier  School 
of  Girolamo  Diruta  (1593).  Method  of  Fingering  (1656). — Florence.  Basso 
continue,  Thorough-bass.  Ludovico  Viadana. — Rome.  Girolamo  Fresco- 
baldi  (see  Mus.  App.)  and  his  pupil  J.  J.  Froberger.  Bernardo  Pasquini 
(see  Mus.  App.)  and  his  pupil  F.  Gasparini. — Temperament  of  the  clavier. 
The  modern  Major  and  Minor  Scales. — Naples.  Alessandro  Scarlatti  and 
his  pupil  Francesco  Durante  (see  Mus.  App.).  The  swifter  and  freer  clavier- 
style  of  Scarlatti.  The  Sonata  is  one  movement,  with  the  fundamental 
outlines  of  its  modern  form. — Clavier-sonatas  in  two  movements.  Diverti- 
menti.      Albertinian  Bass.      The  two-part  clavier-style.      F.   Durante,   D. 

-^    Alberti,  P.  D.  Paradies  (see  Mus.  App.). 

The  Earlier  English  School  of  Clavier-playing 24 

John  Dunstable.  Thomas  Tallis  (see  Mus.  App.)  and  his  pupil  William 
Bird,  1575  (see  Mus.  App.) — Queen  Elizabeth's  Virginal  Book. — Giles, 
Farnaby,  Dr.  Bull. — Fantasia,  Pavane,  Galliarde,  and  Variations. — Orlando 
Gibbons  (see  Mus.  App.)  Henry  Purcell,  1683  (see  Mus.  App.)  Clavier- 
sonatas. 


-_    XIV    — 

The  Earlier  French  School  of  Clavier-playing 26 

Development  of  a  more  elegant,  rhythmically  defined,  and  richly  embel- 
lished clavier  style.  Andre  Champion  de  Chambonnieres  (1650)  and  his 
pupils,  William  Hardelle,  J.  H.  d'Aiiglebert  (see  Mus.  App.).  The  Couperin 
Family.  Fran9ois  Couperin  le  Grand  (see  Mus.  App.).  Harpsichord  Method 
(L'art  de  toucher  du  Clavecin).  Agrements  (see  Mus.  App.),  L.  Marchand 
(see  Mus.  App.).  Marchand  and  J.  Seb.  Bach.  Marchand  and  Rameau.  L. 
C.  Daquin.     Extension  of  the  resources  and  effects  of  the  Clavier. 

The  Earlier  German  School  of  Clavier-playing. . .    , 31 

Celebrated  organists  from  the  15th  century  on.  Bernhard  Murer  (1445), 
Conrad  Paulmann.  Arnold  Schlick,  Paul  Hofhaimer.  German  style  of 
Composition.  H.  L.  Hassler  (1600),  Ch.  Erbach,  H.  Praetorius,  A.  Gumpeltz- 
haimer,  M.  Franck,  S.  Scheidt.  The  first  German  Clavier-virtuoso,  S.  J. 
Froberger  (see  Mus.  App.) — Kerl,  Pachelbel,  Georg  and  Gottlieb  Mufiat  (see 
Mus  App.).  The  French  "Agrements"  and  Graces  come  to  Germany. — 
Keys  of  the  "New  Music."  Matthai,  Werckmeister,  Mattheson,  Theoreti- 
cians.— Music-trade  in  the  17th  Century.— Brilliant  epoch  of  the  earlier 
German  Organ  and  Clavier-school.  Buxtehude  (1670),  Zachau,  Handel, 
Mattheson. — Clavier  Suites  and  Free  Variations. — Modern  Editions  of  earlier 
Clavier  Works. — ^Johann  Sebastian  Bach,  the  Perfecter  of  the  Art  of  Counter- 
point. Reinken  and  Bruhn.  J.  .S.  Bach's  Sons:  W^ilhelm  Friedemann,  Karl 
Philipp  Emanuel,  Johann  Christoph  Friedrich,  and  Johann  Christian  Bach. 
Frederick  the  Great  and  the  Musikalisches  Opfer. — The  Fortepianos  made 
by  Silbermann  and  Friederici.  All  Major  and  Minor  Keys  employed  for  the 
first  time  in  the  "Well -tempered  Clavichord."  Bach's  Works  for  Clavier. 
The  Fugue  as  perfected.     Bach's  Fingering. 

^"11.     The  Clavier  Style  resulting  from  the  new  System  of  Harmony. 

Karl  Philipp  Emanuel  Bach  and  his  Predecessors 48 

Theory  of  Accompaniment,  or  System  of  Thorough-bass.  J.  P.  Rameau. 
A  more  pleasing  secular  style  replaces  the  severe  and  serious  organ-style. 
Sonatas  by  J.  Kuhnau  and  J.  Mattheson,  embracing  from  one  up  to  eight 
movements. — Musical  weekly  and  monthly  Periodicals. — Forms  of  Art  in 
the  l8th  century  :  Dances,  Suites,  Variations,  Salon-music,  Sonatas,  and 
Fugues. — Two-part  form  of  the  clavier-works. — G.  H.  Stolzel's  Enharmonic 
Clavier-sonata  (see  Mus.  App.) — G.  Benda. — Clavier-sonatas  for  4  hands 
(1783  and  1784)  by  Ch.  H.  Muller  and  E.  W.  Wolf.— Reform  in  Clavier- 
playing  and  Clavier-compositions  through  K.  Ph.  E.  Bach  (see  Mus.  App.). 
Establishment  of  the  Sonata-form  in  3  movements.  The  Rondo  as  an  inde- 
pendent composition. — Clavier-players  in  Berlin  :  Ch.  Nichelmann  (1745), 
Carl  Fasch,  F.  W.  Marpurg,  J.  P.  Kirnberger,  W.  Friedemann  Bach,  and  K. 
Ph.  E.  Bach.  Clavier-works  of  the  last-named.  His  School  of  Playing  : 
Position  of  the  hands.  Fingering,  Agr6ments,  Rendering,  Theory  of  Accom- 
paniment, and  Free  Fantasia. — Earlier  German  Clavier  Methods  by  Maichel 
beck  (1738),  Marpurg,  K.  Ph.  E.  Bach,  Lohlein,  J.  S.  Petri,  G.  F.  Wolf,  Turk, 
and  A.  E.  Muller  (1804). — Duetto  for  2  Claviers  or  2  Fortepianos  by  J.  G. 
Miithel  (1771). — The  Clavichord  and  the  newer  Forteoiano  (1787).  K.  Ph.  E. 
Bach's  pupils  :  J.  W.  Hassler,  N.  J.  Hullmandel  (see  Mus.  App.),  and  Johann 
Christian  Bach.  First  and  Second  Themes  in  the  Sonatas  of  the  last-named. 
Sonatas  in  2  and  3  movements. — ^J.  J.  Fux,  Gottlieb  MuflFat,  (see  Mus.  App  ,1, 
G.  Ch.  Wagenseil,  and  J.  Wanhal  in  Vienna.     J-  F   Reichardt. 


—    XV    — 

The  Earlier  Dance-forms 65 

Suite,  Partita,  Sonata  da  camera. — Allemande,  Corrente,  Sarabande,  and 
Gigue. — Minuet,  Alternativo,  Trio,  Double. — Entree.  Marcji. — Loure, 
Gavotte,  Bourree,  Rigaudon,  Passepied,  Rondo,  Branle,  Canarie. — Pastorale, 
Villanella,  Musette,  Tambourin. — Ciacona  (basso  ostinato),  Passacaglia. — 
Pa  vane  or  Paduane,  Gagliarda,  Romanesca.  Volta.  Passamezzo,  Furia. — 
Siciliano,  Forlana.  Saltarello,  Tarantella. — Moresca.  La  Morisque. — 
Polonaise. — Murky,  Murky-bass. — Schreit-  and  Schleiftiinze  ;  Sprin^iinze  or 
Reihen.  Waltz,  Cosa  rara  (see  Mozart,  Don  Giovanno,  2nd  Finale,  2nd 
Tempo). — German  Dances  of  the  i6th  century.     Allemande  (1551). 

MODERN   HISTORY. 

THE  FORTEPIANO. 

III.     The  Lyrical  Clavier  Style. 

Joseph  Haydn  and  Wolfgang  Amadeus  Mozart 75 

Testimony  concerning  K.  Ph.  E.  Bach. — Vienna.  Joseph  Haydn  and  his 
pupil  Ignaz  Pleyel.  The  fancifully  humorous  style.  The  Minuet,  The 
euphonic  clavier-style.  Mozart  adopts  the  Fortepiano  for  the  performance 
of  his  compositions  (1777).  Schobert  (see  Mus.  App.),  J-  G.  Eckart,  and  G. 
A.  Stein.  J.  von  Beecke  and  Ch.  F.  D.  Schubart.  Abb6  Vogler,  Abb6 
Sterkel,  and  Abb6  Gelinek.  L.  Kozeluch  and  J.  W.  Hassler.  Variations. 
Improvisation.  Mozart's  Sonatas  with  first  and  second  themes.  Mozart 
the  creator  of  the  modern   Pianoforte  Concerto.     Sonatas  for  4  hands  by 

«  Mozart,  Onslow,  Hummel,  and  Moscheles.  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  and 
Violin.  Mozart's  rivalry  with  Hassler  and  Clementi.  Bolder  harmonies  and 
modulations.     Viennese  School  of  Playing. 

Muzio  Clementi 93 

Extension  of  the  resources  of  the  virtuoso.  J.  Field,  A.  Klengel,  and  L. 
Berger.  Clementi's  Studies  for  the  Pianoforte  :  Gradus  ad  Parnassum,  con- 
taining Canons  and  Fugues  in  freer  style. 

Contemporaries  of  Em.  Bach,  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Clementi 96 

Parasites.  D.  Steibelt.  Tone-paintings,  Battle-pieces,  Bacchanales.  The 
Fantasia  with  variations. — ^J.  L.  Dussek  and  Prince  Louis  Ferdinand  of 
Prussia.  Richer  and  fuller  pianoforte  setting.  The  Sonata  in  4  move- 
ments :  Allegro,  Adagio,  Scherzo,  and  Finale. — Joseph  Wolfl.  The  Virtuoso 
period. — A.  E.  Miiller  ;  his  Method  for  Clavichord  and  Fortepiano,  and 
Instruction-books. — Wanhal,  Kozeluch,  Marie  Therese  Paradies,  and  A. 
Eberl  of  Vienna. — F.  Kuhlau  of  Copenhagen. 

Clementi's  Pupils 104 

J.  B.  Cramer.  Studies.  Selection  by  H.  von  Biilow.  Course  of  study 
from  Beginner  to  Virtuoso. — Ludwig  Berger  and  his  pupils  C.  W.  Greulich, 
H.  Dorn,  W.  Taubert,  A.  Loschhorn,  C.  Eckert,  F.  Mendelssohn. — A.  A. 
Klengel,  Art  of  Canon  and  Fugue,  Theory  of  Counterpoint. — ^John  Field. 
The  Nocturne. — Carl  Meyer.     Etudes  and  Salon-music, 

A  Pupil  of  Mozart no 

J.  N.  Hummel.  Perfection  of  the  Lyrical  Pianoforte  Style.  The  Fantasia, 
Concerto,  and  the  brilliant  Rondos.  Method  for  the  Pianoforte. — ^J.  Bene- 
dict.    R.  Willmers.     E.  Pauer.     Historical  Pianoforte  Soirties.     T-  P-  Pixis. 


—     XVI     —  I 

IV.     The  Dramatic  Pianoforte  Style. 
Ludwig  van  Beethoven 115 

Beethoven's  Studies.  Reform  of  the  Theory  of  Modulation.  Meetings 
with  Himmel,  Wolfl,  and  Steibelt.  Development  of  momentous  musical 
ideas  from  simple  motives.  Development  of  Melody.  Enhancement  of  the 
means  of  expression.  Beethoven's  Sonatas  form  a  dramatic  Trilogy  or 
Tetralogy. — Ferdinand  Ries. 

Franz  Schubert 124 

Volksthiimliche  German  compositions.  Songs.  Pianoforte  compositions. 
Sonatas,  Marches,  and  Dances. 

V.   The  Brilliant  Style. 

Germany  and  Italy 126 

Arbitrariness  and  Formlessness.  Legitimacy  and  general  acceptance. 
New  developments.  Carl  Czerny.  Pianoforte  Method  and  Studies.  Disre- 
gard of  distinctive  characterization  in  the  "brilliant"  piano-pieces.  Czerny's 
pupils  :  Madame  de  Belleville-Oury,  Theodor  Dohler,  Theodor  KuUak,  Sigis- 
mund  Thalberg.  Leaders  of  the  Viennese  School  of  brilliant  piano-playing. 
Concert-Fantasias,  Salon-pieces,  and  Etudes. — Parish-Alvars. — G.  F.  Pollini's 
Pianoforte  Method  and  Brilliant  Compositions.     A.  Fumigalli. 

Tomaschek,  Dionys  Weber,  and  Proksch  in  Prague 132 

Abb6  Vogler.  Tomaschek's  Eglogues  and  Rhapsodies.  Conservatory  of 
Music.  Dionys  Weber  and  his  pupils  :  C.  M.  von  Bocklet  and  S.  Gold- 
schmidt. — Tomaschek's  pupils  :  J.  F.  Kittl,  J.  Tedesco,  J.  SchulhofF,  and  A. 
Dreyschock.  Solos  for  the  left  hand  alone.  Salon-pieces  and  Dances. — J. 
Procksch.     L.  Kohler.     Studies  and  Methods. 

G.  J.  VoUweiler  and  A.  Schmidt  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main 135 

Carl  VoUweiler.  Studies  and  Bravura  Pieces.  Liszt's  prima-vista  playing. 
Aloys  Schmidt  and  his  pupils  Jacob  and  G.  A.  Schmidt.  Studies  and  Salon- 
pieces. 

Ignaz  Moscheles 136 

Bravura  Pieces  and  Characteristic  Studies.  Employment  of  the  Pedal. 
Greater  force  in  and  variety  of  Touch.  His  pupils  Leopoldine  Blahetka,  H. 
Litolff,  R.  Radecke.  Method  of  Methods  by  Moscheles  and  F6tis. — Moritz 
Hauptmann  and  George  Onslow  ;  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin. 

Carl  Maria  von  Weber 139 

Concertstuck.  Further  development  of  the  animated  dramatic  pianoforte 
style. — L.  Bohner. — The  Court  Kapellmeisters  C.  G.  Reissiger,  H.  Marsch- 
ner,  and  L.  Spohr.     Duos,  Trios,  Quartets,  and  Quintets. 

Felix  Mendelssohn 142 

Attractive,  brilliant,  and  artistic  Compositions  for  Concert  and  Salon. 
Songs  without  Words.  His  pupils  :  Fanny  Hensel,  J.  J.  Verhulst,  W.  Stern- 
dale  Bennett,  Carl  Reinecke,  C.  Luhrs. 

Adolf  Henselt 146 

Novel  and  characteristic  pianoforte  effects.  Concert-6tudes.  Pianoforte 
Concerto.  I 

b.  France 147 1  (, 

Rameau  and  his  pupil  Balbastre.     Schobert  (see  Mus.  App.)  and  Eckard.  j  , 

Fliigel,   Clavichord,  and   Fortepiano.     Foundation   of  the   modern   French  \ 


—    XVII    — 

School  of  Pianoforte-playing  by  K.  Ph.  E.  Bach's  pupil  IluUmandel.  Opening 
of  the  Conservatory  of  Music  at  Paris  in  1792.  H.  Jadin,  a  pupil  of  Hull- 
mandel,  head  of  the  department  of  piano-playing.  L.  E.  Jadin  writes 
M6langes  and  Potpourris. — L.  Adam  and  his  pupils.  Regulation  of  the 
Fingering.  L.  B.  Pradher  (Pradfere)  and  his  pupils. — F.  Kalkbrenner,  6l6ve 
of  the  Conservatory. — Logier's  Academy.  The  Chiroplast.— Moscheles  and 
Kalkbrenner.  Development  of  the  left  hand.  Salon-music— Henri  Herz. 
Enhancement  of  virtuosity. — Henri  Bertini.  Practical  Exercises. — Henri 
Karr,  the  originator  of  musical  factory-work,  and  his  successors  F.  Hiinten, 
H.  Rosellen,  and  various  others. — Norbert  Burgmuller. — The  virtuosi  A. 
von  Kontsky  and  E.  Prudent. — K.  Wehle  and  W.  Kruger.  Attractive  Salon- 
pieces. 

VI.     The  Romantic  Style. 

Francois  Frederic  Chopin 156 

Emotional  compositions  of  novel  conception  and  lofty  poetic  style.  Con- 
certos and  Sonatas.  Preludes,  Etudes,  and  Nocturnes.  Polonaises  and 
Mazurkas.     Leader  of  the  Romantic  School. 

Robert  Schumann 160 

Vigorous  defence  of  the  new  ideas  of  poetry  in  music,  and  battle  against 
the  "Philistines."  Enrichment  of  Harmony  and  Rhythm.  Clara  Wieck. 
Abrupt  contrasts.  The  Neo-Romantic  School  of  Music.  The  partisans  of 
Schumann,  the  Neo-German  School,  and  the  Classical  Party. 

Schumann's  Successors 165 

W.  Bargiel,  more  serious  works.  Th.  Kirchner,  ^^  JCleine  Lust-  unci  Traiter- 
spiele."  (J.  Brahms.)  C.  Gradener,  R.  Volkmann.  C.  A.  Franck.  Trios 
and  Salon-pieces.     Ch.  V.  Alkan.     Bizarrely  romantic  compositions. 

Contemporaries  of  Mendelssohn,  Chopin,  and  Schumann 168 

G.  Fliigel.  St.  Heller.  Attractive  and  melodious  Etudes  and  Salon-music. 
J-  Rosenhain.     L.  Lacombe.     Stimmungsbilder .     F.  Bendel. 

Musical  Review  at  the  Present  Time 170 

Conservatories  and  Schools  of  Music. — Leipsic. — Cologne. — Berlin  :  Royal 
Hochschule  ;  Kullak ;  Stern  ;  Xaver  Scharwenka  ;  Karl  Klindworth. — 
Dresden.  —  Hamburg. —  Weimar. —  Sondershausen. —  Stuttgart. —  Munich. — 
Wiirzburg. — Frankfort. — St.  Petersburg. —  Brussels. —  Paris. — Pesth. —  Hels- 
ingfors. — London. — Numerous  Musicians  not  mentioned  before. 

Franz  Liszt 180 

Review.  Revolution  in  piano-playing,  piano  literature,  and  piano-making. 
Program-music.  Paganini's  influence.  Liszt's  deeply  emotional  original 
compositions  and  fantastic  6tudes.  Brilliant  Concert-tours.  Establishment 
of  the  Weimar  school.  Effective  Concert-pieces  and  Fantasias.  Annees  de 
pelerinage.  Sonata.  Transcriptions.  Lofty  Concertos.  Rhapsodies  hon- 
groises.  Reform  in  Fingering  and  the  Holding  of  the  Hand.  Multitude  of 
novel  pianoforte  effects.     Marvelous  performances.    Climax  of  virtuosity. 

Liszt's  Pupils  and  Contemporaries 192 

iHans  von  Bulow  and  Karl  Tausig.  Hans  von  Bronsart.  Dionys  Pruckner, 
Franz  Bendel,  Giovanni  Sgambati,  Moritz  Rosenthal,  Eugene  d' Albert, 
Arthur  Friedheim,  Bernhard  Stavenhagen,  Alex,  von  Siloti,  Martin  Krause, 
Vera  Timanoff,  etc.,  etc.     "Lady  pupils"  of  Liszt. 


—    XVIII    — 

Raff,  Brahms,  and  Rubinstein 198 

Joachim  Raff,  Johannes  Brahms,  ^Vnton  Rubinstein,  composers  and 
virtuosi. 

Grieg,  Saint-Saens,  and  Tschaikowsky 203 

Their  compositions  and  their  influence. — Remarks  on  the  Sonata.  The 
Concerto.  Stimniungsbildcr.  Pianoforte  Methods.  Earher  Compositions. 
Folk-songs  and  Folk-dances.  Popular  editions  and  Editions  de  luxe.  Theory 
of  Counterpoint,  Harmony,  and  Fugue.     Virtuosity  and  Rendering. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  PIANOFORTE. 
Preface 215 

The  Clavier,  and  the  Earlier  Instruments  related  to  it 216 

The  separate  parts  of  the  various  claviers.  Different  classes  of  claviers. 
Organs. 

Origin  of  the  Clavichord 219 

The  Monochord.     Division  of  the  Strings. 

Origin  of  the  Harpsichord 223 

Psaltery  and  Cymbal. 

Accounts  from  the  i6th  and  17th  centuries  concerning  claviers 226 

Sebastian  Virdung,  1511.     Michael  Praetorius,  1615. 

Tuning  of  the  Clavier-strings 232 

Equal  and  Unequal  Temperament.  The  Pythagoreans  and  Aristoxenos. 
Piero  Aron.     Zarlino.     Ammerbach.    Werckmeister.    Rameau.    Helmholtz. 

Further  Development  of  the  Clavichord  and  Harpsichord 244 

D.  T.  Faber.  The  Ruckers  Family.  Clavecins  en  peau  de  buffle.  Changes 
in  the  construction  of  the  instruments;  novel  stops  and  attachments;  new 
inventions. 

The  Piano-violins  (Geigenwerke,  Bogenfiugel), and  Pantaleon 254 

The  Hurdy-gurdy.  Johann  Heiden  of  Nuremberg.  Hohlfeld  etc.  The 
Dulcimer.     Pantaleon  Hebenstreit. 

The  Hammer-clavier  or  Pianoforte 25S 

Cristofori.  Marias.  Silbermann.  Schioeter.  (Compare  the  Cuts  on  pp. 
366-368),  Harpsichord,  Pianoforte,  and  Clavichord.  Friederici.  Spiith. 
J.  A.  Stein  and  Mozart.  The  German  or  Viennese  Action.  A.  Streicher 
and  Schiller. 

Pianoforte-making  in  England* 271 

Tabel.  Tschudi  (Shudi) .  Broadwood.  Zumpe.  Backers.  Stodart.  The 
English  Action. 

Pianoforte-making  in  France 272 

Sebastien  Erard.  The  Brothers  Erard.  "Double  echappement."  J. 
Pleyel.     H.  Pape. 

Fianoforte-making  in  Germany  etc 275 

)    Berlin:  Karl  Bechstein. — Leipsic:  Julius  BUithner  (Aliquot  Grands;  Janko 
keyboard).  —Hamburg:  Theodore    Steinway. — Bruns.vick:     Steiiuvay's   Sue-  i 

cessors,  Helferich,  Grotrian  &  Co. — Stuttgart:  J.  L.  Schiedmayer  &  Sons. —  \ 

Munich:  A.  Biber. — Vienna:  L.  Bosendorfer  etc. — Zurich:  Huni  &  Hubert. 
— Italy:  Roeseler,  Sievers  etc.  i 


—     XIX     — 

The  Modern  Pianoforte 277 

Thom  and  Allen.  Stodart.  Material  of  strings.  Erard  action.  Over- 
strung pattern.  Overstriking  action.  Prolongation-pedal.  Double  Piano- 
fortes. "Chroma"  Society.  Herz,  Pleyel,  Kalkbrenncr,  in  Paris.  Janko 
Keyboard.  Automatic  Notographs  (Schmeil,  Engramelle).  Logier's  Chiro- 
plast.  Bohrer's  Automatic  Hand-guide.  The  Oratorio.  The  Pianoforte  as 
an  orchestral  instrument.     Liszt's  Pianofortes. 

iiPPENDIX   I. 

Clavier  Compositions  of  the   Sixteenth,  Seventeenth,  and  Eighteenth  Cen- 
turies      287 

Claudio  Merulo.  G.  Frescobaldi.  B.  Pasquini.  F.  Durante.  Pier  Dom. 
Paradies.— Th.  Tallis.  W.  Bird.  O.  Gibbons.  H.  Purcell.— J.  H.  d'Angle- 
bert.  F.  Couperin.  L.  Marchand. — ^J.  J.  Froberger.  G.  MufFat.  H.  Stolzel. 
Schobert.     K.  Ph.  E.  Bach.     J.  HuUmandel. — Agr6ments. 

APPENDIX   II. 

Illustrations  to  the  History  of  the  Pianoforte 357 

Precursors  of  the  Clavier:  Organ,  Dulcimer,  Cymbalum. — Claviers  from 
the  beginning  of  the  l6th  century:  Clavichord,  Harpsichord,  Clavicitherium; 
Flugel  of  the  year  1590. — The  Hammer-action  of  the  Pianoforte:  Cristofori 
(1711),  Marius  (1716),  Schroeter  (1721,  1763);  German  Action,  English  Action. 

Index 369 


•  as  the  Rondeau  or  Rondo. 


The    instrument  was 


ERRATA. 

Page      6,  line    3,  for  Vincentino  read  Viccntino. 
"      47»     "      3  from  below,  for  A^j^/ij^read  i?///<'r. 
"       67,     "      2     "  "      after  2 J  «;;//^_j'c'(/ supply  : 

"     I33i     "      9     "  "      ior  KittelxQ'a.A  Kittl. 

"     219,     "    17,  after  mathematical  accuracy   supply 

therefore  also  called  the  Canon,  as  forming  a  ridf  for  the 
determination  of  the  intervals." 
221,  foot-note,  for  Vicento  read  Vicentino. 
231,  last  line,  for  Zente  read  Zenti. 
238,  line  2,  for  Werkmetster  read  Werckmeister. 

250,  "      2,  for  Oesterlin  read  Oesterlein. 

251,  "    12  from  below,  for  C/iristofori  read  Cristofori. 

252,  "13     "  "       iox  Lemmix&ad  Lemmc. 
254i     "     5     "  "       for  Risk  read  Risch. 
267,     "     8     "           "       for  Spath  read  Spaeth. 
Z'jc),     "    14     "  "       iov  Cronia  read  Chroma. 


EARLIER  HISTORY  OF  CLAVIER-PLAYING. 


Tlie    Olavlcliord. 


( 


^1 


L  The  strict  contrapuntal  Organ  Style  and  the  freer 

Clavier  Style. 


The  earlier  Italian  Clavier  School. 

Among  the  Italian  capitals,  Kome  took  the  lead  in  the  culti- 
vation of  sacred  music,  Naples  in  the  refinement  of  popular,  profane 
song,  and  Florence  in  the  development  of  the  homophonie  style  and 
the  musical  drama;  while  Venice  devoted  herself  more  particularly 
to  the  culture  of  instrumental  music,  and  to  a  style  of  composition 
suited  to  the  same  and  differing  from  that  proper  to  vocal  music. 
We  therefore  begin  oui'  historical  researches  with  the  last-named 
commercial  republic,  so  powerful  in  the  Middle  Ages,  whose  victorious 
fleets  wafted  thither  all  the  wealth  of  the  Orient,  and  whose  active 
intercourse  with  the  most  various  people  of  the  Old  World  caused 
the  arts  and  sciences  to  flourish  in  early  and  marvelous  perfection. 
From  the  14th  century  on,  Venice  was  famed  for  her  eminent  or- 
ganists, engaged  at  the  cathedral  of  San  Marco,  and  for  co-operation 
with  whom  a  there  was  appointed,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  next 
century,  a  conductor  (maestro  di  cappella)  able  to  lend  fresh  impetus 
to  the  vigorous  musical  life  of  the  city.  The  fame  of  these  remarkable 
musicians  attracted  a  great  number  of  zealous  students  of  art,  who 
either  remained  as  successors  of  their  masters  in  Venice,  or  trans- 
planted the  knowledge  there  acquired  to  other  places.  But  even  the 
distinguished  artists  of  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  Netherlands  visited 
the  flourishing  Island  City,  to  seek  positions  in  the  same  or  to 
measure  their  strength  with  her  renowned  musicians.  Thus  appeared 
.  in  Venice,  about  1364,  the  blind  Florentine  Francesco  Landino,  the 
I  highly  extolled  poet  and  organist,  during  the  brilliant  festivities  given 
^1  by  the  Doge  Lorenzo  Celsi  in  honor  of  the  King  of  Cyprus  and  the 
Archduke  of  Austria.     At  one  of  these  solemnities,   and  in  the  per- 

1* 


senee  of  the  universally  revered  Petrarch,  Landino  was  crowned  as 
poet  with  the  laurel  wreath,  though  Francesco  da  Pesaro,  appointed 
organist  at  San  Marco  in  1336,  was  his  successful  rival  for  the  prize 
for  organ-playing.  Distinguished  among  the  later  successors  of  the 
latter  was  also  Bernhard  the  German,  to  whom  the  invention  of  the 
organ-pedals  is  likewise  ascribed,  and  who  is  entered  on  the  records 
of  the  church  as  Bernardo  di  Stefanino  Murer.  From  1527  Adrian 
Willaert  of  Flanders,  frequently  called  Maestro  Adriano  by  the  Ita- 
lians, was  maestro  di  cappella  at  San  Marco;  he  became  the  founder 
of  the  afterwards  so  famous  Venetian  School  of  music,  and  especially 
to  him  and  his  pupils  do  we  owe  the  development  of  a  more  vi- 
gorous and  artistic  instrumental  style.  Willaert  was  the  originator 
of  compositions  for  two  and  three  choruses,  the  harmony  of  each 
having  to  be  complete  in  itself,  and  was  distinguished  as  a  composer 
of  sacred  masses  and  motets,  as  well  as  of  profane  madrigals  and 
can^oni.  In  Venice  first  appeared  those  Fantasias  and  ''Ricercari", 
originated  or  suggested  by  him,  which  were  originally  intended  for 
the  voice,  or  else  for  the  organ  or  other  instruments,  but  whose  per- 
formance was  later  abandoned  to  the  organ  alone.  In  1541  the 
Fleming  Jachet  de  Buus  was  appointed  to  the  second  organ  in  San 
Marco.  He  published  in  1547  a  book  entitled  "Ricercari  da  cantare 
e  souare  d'organo  et  altri  stromenti"  (Venice:  Antonio  Gardane),  fol- 
lowed by  a  similar  one  in  1549.  His  ricercari  are  free  fugal  move- 
ments. One  of  the  parts  begins  with  the  theme  in  the  principal 
key;  that  following  takes  up  the  same  transposed  a  fifth  higher  or 
a  fourth  lower,  but  without  quitting  the  original  key;  the  other  parts 
on  entering  take  up  the  subject  and  answer  alternately  in  like 
manner.  In  most  cases,  the  parts  progress  diatonically  in  the  prin- 
cipal key,  modulations  occurring  only  transiently  to  the  keys  of  the 
dominant  or  sub-dominant.  The  instrumental  compositions  of  the 
period  still  lack  a  distinctive,  positive  character,  and  the  flow  of  the 
melodies  has  too  little  of  pleasing  animation,  to  claim  more  than  an 
historical  interest.  Buus  leaving  Venice  in  1551,  Willaert's  pupil 
Girolamo  Parabosco  succeeded  to  his  office  in  the  cathedral.  At 
this  early  date,  the  free  fantasias  and  improvised  "sonatas"  of  this 
excellent  organist  on  the  "Instrumento  da  penna"  (harpsichord)  found 
special  commendation.* 


*  S.  Caffi,    Storia  della  musica  sacra  etc.     Venice  1854,  Vol.  I,  pp.  W 
and  113. 


—     5     — 

As  in  England  the  Virginal  perhaps  derived  its  name  from  the 
predilection  of  young  damsels  for  this  miniature  clavichord,  in  Italy, 
too,  the  monacordo  (clavicordo)  was  already  the  favorite  insfrumeut 
of  young  girls.  In  the  16th  century  it  was  the  custom  there  to 
educate  the  daughters  of  the  wealthier  classes  in  convents,  where 
they  received  instruction  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  more  particularly 
in  music.  We  learn,  that  at  the  time  of  Adrian  Willaert's  labors  in 
Venice,  he  himself  and  the  organists  at  San  Marco  were  likewise 
clavier-teachers  in  such  convents,  and  that  about  1529  Elena,  daughter 
of  the  renowned  poet  and  man  of  letters  Pietro  Bembo,  begged  her 
father  to  allow  her  to  take  part  in  this  instruction.  Bembo's  written 
reply  has  been  preserved  for  us;  and  the  passage  in  his  letter, 
wherein  he  speaks  of  the  fondness  for  clavier-playing  already  be- 
coming universally  prevalent,  runs  thus:  "Touching  thy  request  for 
leave  to  play  the  'monacordo'  I  answer,  that  by  reason  of  thy  tender 
years  thou  canst  not  know,  that  playing  is  an  art  for  vain  and  fri- 
volous (leggiera)  women.  And  I  would,  that  thou  shouldst  be  the 
most  amiable  and  the  most  chaste  and  modest  maiden  alive.  Besides, 
if  thou  wert  to  play  badly,  thy  plajang  would  cause  thee  little 
pleasure,  and  no  little  shame.  But  in  order  to  play  well,  thou  must 
needs  give  up  ten  or  twelve  years  to  this  exercise,  without  even 
thinking  of  aught  else.  And  how  far  this  would  befit  thee,  thou 
canst  see  for  thyself,  without  my  telling  it.  Should  thy  schoolmates 
desire  thee  to  learn  to  play,  for  their  pleasure,  tell  them  that  thou 
dost  not  care  to  have  them  laugh  at  thy  mortification.  And  content 
thyself  with  the  pursuit  of  the  sciences  and  the  practice  of  needle- 
work."* 

Willaert,  beloved  and  honored  by  all  his  contemporaries,  and 
above  all  revered  by  his  numerous  pupils,  died  at  Venice  in  1562. 
How  liberal  and  comprehensive  his  teaching  must  have  been  is  proved 
by  the  circumstance,  that  many  of  his  pupils  are  mentioned  as  most 
zealous  reformers  during  the  total  revolution  in  music  which  began 
shortly  after  his  death.  The  eight  Ecclesiastical  Modes,  distinguished 
from  each  other  by  the  places  of  their  semitones,  were  at  that  time 
still  taught  and  employed  in  their  full  diatonic  purity.  But  Willaert 
called  attention  to  the  fact,  that  each  whole-tone  interval  can  be  di- 
vided into  two  semitones,  and  consequently  the  whole  octave,  as  tlie 
Greeks  had  already  taught,  into  twelve  semitones  quite  equal  in  their 


•  Caffi,  Vol.  1,  p.  95. 


_     6     — 

mutual  proportions.  Although  he  himself  may  not  have  wished  to 
draw  practical  conclusions  from  this  theory,  his  distinguished  pupils, 
Nicolo  Vincentino  and  Cipriano  de  Rore,  took  a  leading  part  in 
introducing  and  defending  the  newly  appearing  chromatic  music,  by 
which  the  diatonic  was  later  to  be  superseded.  Their  fellow-pupil 
Gioseffo  Zarlino  also  stands  out  as  the  most  eminent  and  liberal 
theoretician  of  his  period,  his  authority  being  recognized  almost  ex- 
clusively and  universally  until  the  appearance  of  Rameau  in  the 
18th  centuiy. 

Of.  the  compositions  of  Willaert  and  his  pupils,  bearing  on  our 
subject,  the  following  were  published  by  Ant.  Gardane  in  Venice, 
1549:  "Fantasie  o  Rieercari  dall'  eccelentiss.  Adr.  Vuigliart  e  Cipr. 
Rore,  suo  discepolo,  a  4  e  5  voci";  further,  in  1559:  "Fantasie,  Rieer- 
cari, Contrapunti  a  tre  voci  di  M.  Adriano  et  altri  autori,  appropriati 
per  cantare  e  sonare  d'ogni  sorte  di  stromenti".— The  Fantasias  and 
Rieercari  are  built  up  from  motives  of  the  composer's  own  invention; 
while  in  the  Contrapunti  the  counterpoint  is  added  to  a  selected 
sacred  melody  or  a  given  canto  fermo.  The  motives,  generally  short, 
enter  in  the  several  parts  in  fugue  style,  in  the  fifth  above,  the 
fourth  below,  or  the  octave,  and  the  building  up  of  the  composition 
is  often  effected  by  imitations  in  the  various  parts. 

Besides  the  above-mentioned  organists  for  the  two  organs  in  San 
Marco,  Claudio  Merulo  da  Correggio  is  deserving  of  special  men- 
tion. He  was  born  in  Correggio  in  1533,  was  a  fellow -student  of 
Cipriano  de  Rore  under  Willaert,  and  while  still  very  young  was 
appointed  organist  of  the  cathedral  at  Brescia.  But  when,  at  the 
decease  of  Parabosco  in  1557,  the  position  of  second  organist  in  the 
cathedral  at  Venice  became  vacant,  Merulo  was  chosen  therefor 
over  the  heads  of  nine  distinguished  rivals.  He  and  his  colleague 
Annibale  Padovano  now  frequently  performed  simultaneously  or  in 
alternation  upon  the  two  organs  at  solemn  celebrations;  and  after 
the  death  of  the  latter,  Merulo  was  appointed  to  his  position  as  first 
organist,  while  Andrea  Gabrieli,  afterwards  so  famous,  undertook  the 
control  of  the  second  organ.  Merulo's  friends  and  fellow -students, 
Cipriano  de  Rore  and  Gioseffo  Zarlino,  successively  followed  their 
master  Willaert  in  office,  and  when  Merulo  left  Venice  in  1584,  in 
response  to  his  flattering  appointment  as  Court  Organist  of  the  Duke 
of  Parma,  his  position  was  given  to  Giovanni  Gabrieli,  a  highly 
meritorious  and  influential  composer  and  teacher,  and  nephew  of  the 
Andrea  Gabrieli  before  spoken  of.    Now,  all  these  artists  were  devoted 


_     7     — 

to  the  liberal  tendencies  by  which  Willaert's  teaching  was  marked; 
and  to  their  co-operation  do  we  owe,  foremostly,  the  gradual  eman- 
cipation of  instrumental  music  from,  the  sJiacJcles  of  diatonics  and  the 
limitations  of  vocal  style.  Claudio  Merulo  worked  in  Parma  for  twenty 
years  longer  as  an  organist,  composer,  and  music-teacher,  marks  of 
favor  of  all  kinds  being  lavished  upon  him,  and  the  Duke  distinguish- 
ing him  by  the  golden  chain  and  the  title  of  Cavaliere.  He  died  in 
Parma  in  1604.  While  his  numerous  3  to  6-part  Madrigals  had  the 
greatest  influence  on  the  development  of  a  more  animated  style  of 
profane  song,  his  Toccate  and  Ricercari  for  the  organ  and  other 
instruments,  published  in  Eome  and  Venice,  similarly  promoted  the 
evolution  of  the  instrumental  style  proper,  as  distinguished  from  vocal 
style.  They  appeared  under  the  title:  "Toccate  d'intavolatura  d'organo 
di  Claudio  Merulo  da  Correggio,  organista  del  sereniss.  Sig.  Duca  di 
Parma  e  Piacenza.  Libro  secondo,  1604";  and  further:  "Ricercari 
d'intavolatura  d'organo,  lib.  primo.  In  Venetia,  1567,  1605,  and  1607; 
lib.  secondo,  1608".  The  Toccata,  with  its  broken  chords,  more  rapid 
runs,  and  livelier  figures,  was  originally  intended  for  the  quickly 
vanishing  tone  of  the  clavier,  and  later  transferred  to  the  organ.  In 
Merulo's  toccatas  an  inner  coherency  already  shows  more  distinctly; 
the  figurate  runs  are  taken  up,  now  in  one  part  and  now  in  another, 
and  supported  by  sustained  tones,  and  simple  melodious  periods 
likewise  alternate  with  more  animated  passages  in  manifold  variety. 
Like  the  Toccata  through  Claudio  Merulo,  the  Canzone  and 
Sonata  attained  to  a  more  finished  artistic  form  at  the  hands  of 
the  above-mentioned  Andrea  and  his  nephew  Giovanni  Gabrieli:  — 
A.  Gabrieli,  "Canzoni  alia  francese  per  I'organo",  Venezia,  1571  and  1605; 
"Senate  a  cinque  per  i  stromenti",  Venezia,  1586;  and  by  G.  Gabrieli, 
"Intonazioni  d'organo",  lib.  1,  Venezia,  1593;  "Ricercari  per  I'organo", 
lib.  2,  1595;  lib.  3,  1595.  In  the  Canzone  (originally  marked  "per 
sonar"  to  distinguish  it  from  the  canzone  for  the  voice)  a  principal 
melody  appears,  frequently  changed  in  measure  and  rhythm  when 
reappearing  in  the  course  of  the  piece;  and  like  the  sound  (harmony) 
in  the  sonata,  the  melody  in  the  canzone  was  the  bearer  of  the 
motives  aiid  their  imitations.  In  the  canzoni  by  Giovanni  Gabrieli 
we  already  meet  with  varied  and  interestingly  turned  forms;  an 
essentially  melodious  idea  is  the  theme  of  the  composition;  the  pas- 
sages of  the  toccata  are  employed  therein,  rhythmical  contrasts  apjicar, 
and  in  the  frequent  imitations  the  subject  and  answer,  regularly 
alternating  with  each  other,  are  distinctly  recognizable.    The  distinc- 


—     8     — 

tion  between  Sonatas  and  Cansoni  is  given  by  Michael  Praetorius, 
in  his  Syntagma  musicum,  Tom.  3,  P.  24,  A,  D,  1620,  as  follow  . 
"Sonata  a  sonando  is  thus  named,  because  it  is  not  performed  by 
human  voices,  but  by  instruments  alone,  like  the  Canzone;  of  which 
kind  very  beautiful  ones  may  be  found  in  Giov.  Gabrieli's  and  other 
authors'  Canzonibus  and  Sjniphoniis.  But  in  my  opinion  there  is  this 
distinction: — That  the  Sonatas  are  written  right  seriously  and  rarely 
in  motet-style,  whereas  the  Canzoni  speed  along  blithely  and  merrily 
with  many  black  notes". 

The  Preludes,  Intonations,  and  Fantasias  were  compositions  in- 
tended for  organ  as  preludes,  interludes,  or  pustludes,  written  in 
chord-style,  and  often  interspersed  with  more  axdmated  runs.  But 
the  SijmpJionies  of  that  period  were  not  only  for  the  organ;  they 
were  sometimes  extended  pieces  for  4,  5,  6  or  more  independent 
instruments,  which  contained  shorter  imitations,  and  were  set,  in 
particular,  in  very  full  harmony. 

Fuga  was  originally  the  name  of  a  composition  for  two,  three, 
or  more  parts.  One  of  these  begins  with  a  melody,  which  is  exactly 
imitated  by  the  other  parts  entering  in  succession,  the  part  first 
entering  continuing  its  melody  to  the  close,  regularly  followed  by  all 
the  rest  in  the  same  manner.  Tinctoris  (sic)  therefore  defines  tlie 
Fugue,  in  his  earliest  musical  dictionary,  publislied  about  1474,  as  a 
strict  imitation  of  the  parts  of  a  song.*  Sucli  a  fugue  could  be 
executed  by  the  performers  to  whom  it  was  entrusted  from  a  single 
part,  when  the  author  set  at  the  beginning  a  rule  or  "canon"  ordering 
the  successive  entrance  of  the  parts  (whether  after  one  or  more 
measures,  on  the  strong  or  weak  beat,  in  augmentation  or  diminu- 
tion, etc.)  Such  directions  were  often  given  in  enigmatical  form. 
For  instance,  if  there  stood,  above  the  one  part  intended  for  all  per- 
formers, the  words  "Canon:  Crescit  in  duplo",  the  contrapuntist  meant, 
that  the  next  part  should  follow  in  double  augmentation;  with  "Canon: 
Qui  se  exaltat  humiliabitui-"  the  direction  was  given,  that  the  answer- 
ing part  should  ascend  when  the  leading  part  descended,  and  vice 
versd.  Tinctoris  defines  the  word  canon  as  a  direction,  which  ob- 
scurely indicates  the  composer's  pleasure**    As  early  as  1558.  when 


*  Fuga  est  idemtitas  partium  cantus  quo  ad  valorem,  nomen,  formam  et 
interdnm  quo  ad  locum  notarum  et  pausarum  suarum. 

**  Canon  e.st  regula  voluntatetn  coTDpom'toris  sub  nbscuxitate  otiadam 
ostondrns. 


—     9     — 

Zarlino  published  Ms  celebrated  work  "Le  institution!  harmoniche"  in 
Venice,  "some  musicians  of  little  understanding",  as  he  disapprovingly 
says,  called  the  strict  fugue  spoken  of  above  a  "canon".  The  Venetian 
contrapuntists,  too,  desired  to  distinguish  their  freer  fugue  from  the 
strict  one,  the  fuga  legata,  and  therefore  named  it  the  fuga  rieercafa 
(choice,  well  chosen).  A  composition  so  carefully  wrought  out  might 
further  be  termed  una  Rieercafa  or  un  Ricercare,  terms  never  em- 
ployed by  the  scrupulously  exact  Zarlino,  although  he  lived  and 
labored  for  23  years  in  the  midst  of  his  colleagues,  the  ricercari 
composers  just  mentioned.  The  practical  theoretician  G.  M,  Bononcini, 
in  his  "Musico  prattico"  (Bologna,  1688),  discusses  the  Fuga  sciolta 
b  libera  (free  fugue),  and  also  the  Fuga  legata  overo  ohligata  (the 
"bound"  or  strict  fugue),  and  various  others,  adding  the  remark 
(p.  78):  "The  strict  fugue  is  the  same  as  the  canon". 

At  the  present  time  the  word  "canon"  is  used  to  denote  a  com- 
position constructed  throughout  in  strict  imitation,  whereas  under 
"fugue"  we  understand  only  the  former,  artistically  wrought  composi- 
tion whose  independent  parts  progress  with  greater  freedom.  Our 
modern  "strict  fugue"  should  properly  be  developed  organically  only 
from  motives  of  the  subject  and  counter-subject;  whereas  our  "free 
fugue"  decorates  its  tissue,  especially  in  the  episodes,  with  fresh 
motives  symmetrically  repeated. 

All  compositions  as  yet  named  were  also  written  in  -  different 
forms  by  different  composers.  The  contrapuntal  movements  also  took 
at  times  an  introduction  and  coda  in  chord-form,  from  the  motives 
of  which  the  imitations  of  the  middle  movement  were  worked  up; 
or  the  several  parts  of  a  canzone  or  some  other  serious  composition 
had  various  motives  for  modulatory  work,  in  order  to  keep  the 
hearer's  interest  continually  alive  by  this  or  similar  means. 

To  these  monotonous,  academical  works  a  novel  and  fructifying 
element  was,  however,  added  in  the  airs  of  the  folk-songs  and  folk- 
dances,  which,  more  sympathetic  in  melody  and  more  symmetrical  in 
rhythm,   had  found  loving  and  fostering  care  at  all  times  in  Italy 
and  in  all  other  countries.     Even  before  the  beginning  of  the  16th 
century,  learned  composers  had  based  their  works,  including  masses 
and  sacred  motets,  on  such  popular  melodies,  which  they  surrounded 
by    ingenious    counterpoint.      Although    such    a    cantus    flrmus    was 
'    usually  set  in  the  tenor,  or  most  prominent  part,  it  could  nevertheless 
(«  exercise  no  important  influence  on  the  character  of  the  composition 
(   as  a  whole,  as  its  melody  and,  in  particular,  its  rhythm  were  quite 


—     10     — 

covered  up  by  the  otlicr  parts.  Not  until  writers  began  to  set  me- 
lodies of  a  popular  cast  in  the  naturally  most  prominent  part,  the 
soprano,  and  to  develop  the  accompanying  parts  harmonically  rather 
than  contrapuntally,  did  these  readily  intelligible  profane  songs  show 
a  more  pulsing  animation. 

Instrumental  music  also  adopted  this  improvement,  and  its  can- 
zoni  viUanesclie,  napolitaue,  and  francesi,  as  well  as  the  likewise 
homophonic  dance-melodies  of  the  Gagliaidi,  Correnti,  Ciacoue,  etc. 
everywhere  met  with  a  most  favorable  reception.  Later,  several  such 
serious  or  gay  pieces  written  in  the  popular  style  of  the  folk-song 
would  be  put  together,  wrought  out  more  artistically,  furnished  with 
an  introduction  and  a  lively  Finale  (often  a  Giga),  and  maintained 
unity  amid  this  diversity  by  a  principal  key  sustained  throughout, 
and  a  similarity  in  the  working  out  of  the  different  movements. 
Cyclic  compositions  of  this  order  were  called  Partite,  Suites,  or 
Parthien. 

The  above-mentioned  Bicercari  da  cantare  e  sonare  by  Buus,  pub- 
lished in  Venice,  1547,  were  the  first  contrapuntal  works  printed  in 
Italy  which  were  intended,  besides  for  singing,  for  the  organ  and 
other  instruments.  They  were  followed  by  "Fantasie,  Ricercari,  Contra- 
punti  a  tre  voci  di  M.  Adriano  (Willaert)  et  altri  autori  appropriati 
per  cantare  e  sonare  d'ogni  sorti  di  stromenti.  Venezia,  A.  Gardane, 
1549."  Two  years  later  the  same  publisher  issued:  "Intabulatura  nova 
di  varie  sorte  di  balli  da  sonare  per  Arpichordi,  Clavicembali,  Spi- 
nette  c  Manachordi,  raccolti  de  diversi  excelleutissimi  Autori.  Libro 
primo."  In  the  Pass'  e  mezi,  Gagliardi,  a  Pavane  and  a  Saltarello 
contained  therein,  the  soprano  is  supported  by  a  very  simple  har- 
monic accompaniment.  In  the  collections  of  such  dances  printed  later 
in  Venice  and  other  places,  the  accompaniment  to  the  soprano  already 
exhibits  a  more  interesting  harmonic  form.* 

From  a  chapter  of  the  extremely  rare  book  "Compendium  mu- 
sices  descriptum  ab  Adriano  Petit  Coclico,  discipulo  Josquini  de  Pros. 

Impressum   Norimberga) 1552"  it  appears,  that  as  early  as 

the    16th   century   a   distinction   was   made  between  the  science   of 


*  Of  most  of  the  compositions  hitherto  named — the  Ricercari,  Canzoni, 
down  to  the  last-mentioned  dances  —  characteristic  specimens  may  he  found  in 
the  carefully  edited  and  richly  made-up  book:  "History  of  Instrumental  Music 
in  the  XVI.  Century",  by  W.  J.  von  Wasielewsky  Berlin,  1878,  J.  Gut  ten- 
tag  (D.  Collini. 


—   11   — 

Counterpoint  (employed  in  working  out  the  Kiceroari  and  other  scien- 
tifico-artistie  compositions),  and  the  science  of  Harmony,  according;  to 
•  whose  freer  and  more  easily  mastered  rules  the  accompaniments  to 
the  greater  part  of  the  collections  of  dances  just  mentioned  were  set. 
This  chapter  begins  on  sheet  L  IP,  or  on  page  84,  if  one  choose  to 
number  the  pages  from  the  title-page.  It  not  having  been  noticed 
hitherto,  I  quote  so  much  of  it  as  bears  on  our  subject: 


"On  tlie  Bules  of  Composition,  and  on  tlw  Syncopation  and  Tying 

of  the  Notes." 

"Many  have  boasted  of  being  composers,  because,  following  the 
rules  and  consonances  of  composition  (compositionis),  although  not  in 
accordance  with  the  existing  usage  of  counterpoint,  they  have  com- 
posed much.  Dominus  Josquinus  despised  such,  and  made  sport  of 
them,  saying  that  they  would  fain  fly  without  wings." 

"Thus  the  first  thing  required  of  a  good  composer  is,  that  he 
should  be  able  to  sing  an  extemporized  counterpoint  (contrapunctum 
ex  tempore  canere);  else  he  is  none." 

"The  second:  That  he  should  be  drawn  to  composition  by  a 
great  desire,  by  a  certain  natural  impulse,  so  that  neither  food  nor 
drink  may  tempt  him  before  his  song  be  finished.  For  in  one  hour 
he  will  do  more,  when  driven  by  this  natural  impulse,  than  other- 
wise in  a  whole  month.  Incapable,  therefore,  are  those  composers, 
who  lack  this  special  impulse." 

"The  third:  That  he  should  understand  the  employment  of  the 
perfect  consonances  (species  perfectas,  the  Prime  and  the  Fiftli,  like- 
wise their  doublings,  the  Octave  and  the  Twelfth,  etc.)  and  the  imper- 
fect consonances  (species  imperfectas,  the  Thirds  and  Sixths,  with 
their  doublings)  in  the  proper  place,  as  is  taught  in  rule  of  Counter- 
point For  the  rule  of  composition  differs  in  a  measure  from  the 
rule  of  counterpoint.  The  rule  of  composition  is  freer,  and  more  is 
allowed  in  this  than  in  counterpoint.  For  the  had  varieties  (of  inter- 
vals), i.  e.  the  Second,  the  Fourth,  and  the  higher  octave  of  either, 
are  very  good  in  composition,  wherever  an  Octave  or  a  Sixth  in  one 
of  the  lower  parts  excuses  them;  and  this  is  termed  in  French 
"faubordon"  (faux  bourdon)^  i.  e.  bad  intervals  with  the  highest  part 
(e.  g.  g—c)  are  excused  by  Sixths  or  Octaves  in  the  lowest  pai-t 
]Ce.  £.  e—sj—c^  or  c—ja — ci." — 


—     12     — 

*'It  is  likewise  allowed  in  composition,  to  ascend  and  descend 
with  perfect  consonances  (cum  speciehus  perfectis)  and  to  set  fa 
against  mi  (f — h)  by  writing  a  [?  before  h  (f—h\>)^  which  is  not  per- 
mitted in  counterpoint." 

"But  in  composition,  too,  one  should  take  the  greatest  care  not 
to  let  two  perfect  consonances  [species  perfectae)  follow  each  other 
immediately,  such  as  two  Octaves,  or  two  Fifths,  or  their  higher 
positions;  unless  one  part  should  ascend  and  the  other  descend  (e.  g. 

fxs)."- 

Coclius  informs  us  in  this  chapter,  that  the  compositions  of 
the  16 til  century  were  not  always  contrapuntal,  but  sometimes  in 
a  freer,  homophonic  style.  This  latter  gave  rise  later  to  the 
epoch-making  invention  of  the  hasso  continuo  for  the  organist  accom- 
panying a  vocal  piece, — this  being  a  bass  part,  whose  notes  were 
soon  provided  with  figures  indicating  the  chords  to  be  performed 
over  the  same. 

It  was  in  Venice,  too,  that  the  first  systematic  Organ  and  Clavier 
Method,  by  P.  Girolamo  Diruta,  appeared,  bearing  the  title:  "Prima 
parte  del  Transilvano,  dialogo  sopra  il  vero  modo  di  sonar  organi 
ed  instrumenti  da  penna",  which  latter  term  included  the  harpsi- 
chord, spinet,  and  other  instruments  whose  strings  were  made  to 
sound  by  crow-quills.  The  dedication  to  theJPrince  of  Transylvania, 
with  whom  the  author  holds  these  dialogues,  and  to  whom  the  work 
owes  its  title,  bears  the  date  of  1593.  The  second  part,  also  printed 
in  Venice,  appeared  in  1609.  In  the  first  part  Diruta  explains  the 
keyboard,  shows  the  position  of  the  hands  and  the  use  of  the  fingers, 
explains  the  Intavolatura  (Tabulature  or  Score),  and  then  proves  the 
truth  and  necessity  of  his  rules  by  giving  several  Toccatas  of  his 
own,  by  Claudio  Merulo  and  Andrea  Gabrieli,  whose  compositions 
he  praises  very  highly,  and  by  others;  calling  special  attention  to  the 
difference  between  organ-playing  and  clavier-  (harpsichord)  playing. 
The  second  part  teaches  how  a  melody  is  to  be  noted  down,  gives 
contrapuntal  rules,  and  directions  for  improvization  with  examples 
from  Luzzasco  Luzzaschi,  Gabriele  Fattorini,  and  Adriano  Banchieri 
—  all  celebrated  organists  of  that  period.  He  treats  further  of  the 
ecclesiastical  modes  and  their  transposition,  teaches  how  to  accompany 
a  chorale  harmonically,  and  gives  at  the  close  short  directions  for 
singing.  The  numerous  editions  of  both  parts  of  this  book,  demanded ' 
in   the  beginning  of  the   17th  century,    bear   trustworthy   testimony 


Ik^^ 


^     -M^ 


13     — 


at    the    same    time    to    its    clearness,    intelligibility,    and   practical 
utility. 

Concerning-  the  fingering  of  keyed  instruments,  even  one  hundred 
years  later,  we  may  draw  information  from  a  work  whose  fifth 
edition  was  issued  in  Antwerp,  1690,  its  first  having  been  published 
in  Bologna,  1656.  It  is  entitled:  "Li  primi  albori  musicali",  and  the 
author,  Lorenzo  Penna,  a  distinguished  organist  of  the  time,  gives 
therein  the  following  general  rules  for  the  fingering  (p.  195):  In 
ascending,  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand  move  one  after  the  other; 
first  the  middle  finger,  then  the  ring-finger,  and  then  the  middle 
finger  again;  thus  they  run  on  in  alternation,  whereby  care  must  be 
taken  that  the  fingers  do  not  strike  at  the  same  time.  But  in  des- 
cending, the  middle  finger  moves  first,  then  the  forefinger,  then  the 
middle  finger  again,  etc.  The  left  hand  observes  the  reverse  order; 
i.  e.  in  ascending  it  takes  the  middle  finger  first,  then  the  fore- 
finger, etc.,  and  in  descending  the  middle  finger  first,  then  the  ring- 
finger,  etc. — The  author  gives  the  additional  rule,  that  the  hands 
must  not  lie  lower  than  the  fingers,  but  high,  and  that  the  fingers 
should  be  stretched  out. 

Even  in   the  following  century  the  fingering  was   no  more  ra- 
tionally developed,  as  we  see  from  a  book  with  a  very  happy  poetical 
introduction  by  Mattheson.     It  bears  the  title:  "J.  F.  B.  Caspar  Majer's, 
Organistens   bey  St.   Catharein   in  Schwabischen  Hall,   neueroffneten 
theoretisch-  und  praktischer  Music-Saal"  etc.     (Newly  opened  Theo- 
retico-practical   Music-Hail).     Second   edition,   Nuremberg,   Joh,   Jae. 
Cremer,  1741.     In  the  chapter  "von  denen  Instrumentis  Pulsatilibus, 
Oder  die  da  geschlagen  werden"  (on  the  instruments  of  percussion, 
or  such  as  are  struck)  we  find  the  following  remarks:  The  white  keys 
are  named  e  d  e  f  g  a  h  (b)  o  and  so  on  through  the  four  octaves 
of  the  clavier.     "But  the  black  keys,  which  stand  between  the  white, 
though  further  back  and  higher  than  the  latter,   derive  their  names 
from  the  white  keys,  and  the  first  black  key  from  below  is  named 
cis  (cj?),  because  derived  from  c,  the  second  dis  (cZj),  because  derived 
from  d^  that  following  fis  (/jj),   the  next  gis  {g^\  because  it  stands 
next  the  g.   Only  this  must  be  noticed;  that  the  black  key  following 
the  a  is  named  h  (61?)  through  the  four  Octaves."     On  pages  64  and 
N    65  a  view  is  given  of  the  24  musical  modes.     Here  we  find  under 
\j  N^S-major,   for   instance,   the   notes   ab   W  c  d\p  e\;>  f  g  ab,   without 
,  ','^jignature,  yet  provided  with  all  the  necessary  chromatic  signs;  though 
under  these  notes  there  stand  the  names  then  in  general  use  for  the 
"/' 


14     — 


same;  ^ j  h\>  c  cj  (ZS  f  9  df-  ^"^  ^i^^  mai  n?r  we  find  under  Dj|- 
minor  the  notes  eb  f  gV  a\?  'b\>  c  d  el?,  and  below  the  same  their 
names  cZJJ  /"  /S  5'8  ^b  c  (?  (Z^ 


OTzwor. 


i>»^ 


b^it42i=2t 


:l?P=^ 


4  /*  /"it  .'^t  &>  <?  rf  rfj 


To  introduce  his  discussion  of  the  clavier -fingering,  the  author 
first  gives  the  signs  for  the  fingers  of  either  hand:  0  indicates  the 
but  seldom  used  thumb,  1  the  forefinger,  2  the  middle  finger,  3  the 
ring-finger,  and  4  the  little  finger.  This  numbering  still  prevails  in 
the  United  States  of  North  America.  [This  statement  may  have  been 
correct  when  penned;  but  at  present  (1891)  the  fingering  12  3  4  5 
is  decidedly  and  justly  preferred.  In  more  conservative  England  the 
former  fingering,  with  a  cross  x  for  the  thumb,  is  still,  perhaps,  the 
prevalent  one.  Transl.  Note.]  In  the  "Music -Saal"  under  con- 
sideration the  theory  of  fingering  is  very  concise,  and  is  illustrated 
by  the  following  table: 


Lefthand 
takes  the 


seconds  ascending 

seconds  descending 
thirds  and  fourths 
fifths  and  sixths 
■  sevenths  and  eighths 


\  /  loreflng 

I  with  I  '^}^^'' 

?the^"°§^r 
I  1  nng-fini 

/  'little  fin 


forefinger  and  thnmh  \ 
and  ring-finger  I 


middle  and  ring-f. 

middle  and  fore 
and  forefinger      >  ii'^"^'\  ring-finger  and  foref. 

er  and  thumb  j  j  forefinger  and  little 

finger  and  thumb  '  'little  f.  and  thumb 


right 


jref.  > 
;lef.  I 
nb    / 


We  owe  the  first  fingering  for  the  clavier  based  on  rational 
principles  to  Carl  Philipp  Emanuel  Bach,  son  of  the  great  composer 
Sebastian  Bach,  whose  "Versuch  Uber  die  wahre  Art  das  Clavier  zu 
spielen"  (Essay  on  the  ti-ue  Method  of  playing  the  Clavier)  was 
published  in  Berlin,  in  the  year  1753. 

On  the  first  appearance  in  Italy,  about  1580,  together  with 
Monody  and  recitative  song,  of  a  principal  part  not  enveloped,  as 
until  then,  by  contrapuntal  parts  of  equal  importance,  but  merely 
supported  harmonically  by  an  appropriate  instrument,  like  the  lute 
or  harpsichord,  this  principal  part  was  furnished  with  a  bass,  to  serve 
the  player  as  a  guide  for  the  harmonies  accompanying  the  former. 
Lodovico  Viadana,  in  turn  maestro  di  cappcJJa  at  several  cathedrals 
in  the  States  of  Urbino,  at  Venice,  and  at  last  in  Mantua,  invented 
thereafter  (about  1596,  at  which  time  he  was  in  Rome)  a  new  kind 


—     15     — 

of  vocal  compositions,  which  he  called  "concert i  cccJcsiastici'\  and  in 
which  now  one  voice  alone,  and  anon  two,  three,  or  four  voices 
together  would  appear,  an  accompanying  hass  part  for  the  organ,  a 
basso  continue,  being  added  thereto.  One  hundred  of  the  same 
were,  however,  first  printed  at  Venice  in  1602  as  four  separate  voice- 
parts,  together  with  a  fifth:  "il  basso  continuo  per  sonar  nell'  organo". 
In  the  preface  he  gives  the  organist  the  advice,  to  play  only  the 
voice-parts  belonging  to  each  movement,  to  look  through  these  before 
the  performance,  and  not  to  obscure  the  same  by  embellishments. 
But  as  yet  the  basso  continuo  of  this  first  edition  shows  no  figures 
over  the  notes,  or  any  other  sign  indicating  the  harmonies  to  be  taken 
therewith. 

Recitative  and  solo  singing,  which  came  into  vogue  in  Florence^ 
together  with  the  first  attempts  at  a  drama  supported  by  music  through- 
out, in  the  last  decade  of  the  16  th  century,  and  which  was  actively 
promoted  by  the  Florentines  Vincenzo  Galilei  and  Jacopo  Peri,  .and 
the  Romans  Emilio  del  Cavaliere  and  Giulio  Caccini  then  in  Florence, 
had  also  made  necessary  a  similar  bass  part  for  its  accompaniment. 
The  sacred  musical  drama,  designed  for  the  oratory,  also  took  itg 
rise  in  that  time  of  mental  and  vital  activity.  In  such  an  Oratorio 
by  the  above-named  Emilio  del  Cavaliere,  "La  rappresentazione  di 
anima  e  di  corpo",  printed  in  1600,  and  in  the  opera  "Eurydice"  by 
Giulio  Caccini,  published  at  Florence  in  the  same  year,  likewise  in 
Jacopo  Peri's  opera  of  the  same  name  which  appeared  in  Venice  in 
1608,  the  bass  parts  already  have  figures  and  chromatic  signs  over 
the  notes;  and  the  editor  of  the  Oratorio,  Alessandro  Guidotti,  already 
furnishes  some  observations  on  the  meaning  of  this  figuring  in  hi» 
accompanying  "Avvertimenti  particolari  per  chi  cantera  recitando  e 
per  chi  sonera".  Now,  as  Ludovico  Viadana,  in  the  second  edition 
of  his  "Cento  concert!  ecclesiastici"  (published  in  Venice,  1609,  i.  e. 
later  than  the  work  mentioned  above),  first  added  to  the  same  a 
basso  continuo  with  figuring,  yet  already  provided  it  with  detailed 
directions  for  playing,  it  is  doubtful  whether  we  owe  the  invention 
and  introduction  of  thorough-bass  to  this  composer,  or  to  Emilio  del 
Cavaliere,  Caccini,  or  Peri.  But,  as  the  execution  of  such  figured 
basses  in  profane  compositions  was  usually  entrusted,  from  that  time 
onward,  to  a  clavier-player,  the  latter  was  obliged,  like  the  organist 
j  who  had  to  accompany  sacred  music  in  a  similar  manner,  to  be 
'  fi),miliar  with  thorough-bass  playing;  and  the  science  of  accompany- 

f        ^ 


—     16     — 

ing  formed  henceforward  an  important  part  of  the  musical  education 
of  every  clavier-player. 

The  course  of  our  observations  has  shown,  how  in  Venice,  firstly 
there  were  gradually  developed  from  compositions  intended  for  the 
voice  those  forms  of  art,  which  were  adapted  to  the  character  of 
instrumental  music  in  general  and  to  that  of  keyed  instruments  in 
particular;  and  how  thereafter,  in  Florence,  the  clavier  was  not 
as  formerly  used  exclusively  for  the  performance  of  works  in  contra- 
puntal style,  but  also  for  the  freer  harmonic  support  of  dramatic  solo 
singing,  whereby  its  easily  evoked  harmonic  fulness  was  brought  out. 
We  now  turn  to  Rome,  where  Girolamo  Frescobaidi  and  Bernardo 
Pasquini,  two  men  prominent  in  the  annals  of  ]\Iusic,  at  length  treated 
the  clavier,  ivith  its  non-sustained,  qiiicTdy  vanishing  tones,  in  a  manner 
corresponding  to  its  peculiarities,  so  that  compositions  written  hoth 
artistically  and  in  true  clavier  -  style  made  their  appearance.  As 
"teachers  of  Frescobaidi  are  named  the  two  excellent  organists 
and  composers  Luzzasco  Luzzaschi  and  Alexandre  Milleville,  both, 
like  himself,  natives  of  Ferrara.  Luzzaschi  was  one  of  those 
artists,  who  undertook  towards  the  end  of  the  16  th  century  to  re- 
habilitate the  three  primary  genera  of  the  Greeks,  and  to  adapt 
tthem  to  the  practice  of  their  own  time;  like  Willaert's  above-named 
pupils  Vincentio  and  Zarlino,  he  therefore  had  a  clavier  built,  on 
which  the  diatonic,  chromatic,  and  enharmonic  modes  could  be  played 
— a  fact  which  exercised  most  lasting  influence  upon  the  training  of 
the  pupils  committed  to  his  charge.  Girolamo  Frescobaidi  was  one 
of  those  highly  gifted,  epoch-making  minds,  of  whom  the  history  of 
an  art  can  boast  but  few  at  any  time.  Unsurpassed  as  a  virtuoso 
on  the  organ  and  clavier,  and  enthusiastically  revered  by  all  his  con- 
temporaries, he  also  stands  forth  as  a  composer  for  these  instruments 
of  solid,  acute,  and  in  the  highest  degree  inventive  genius.  Though 
few  details  of  his  career  are  known  to  us,  the  greater  is  the  number 
of  the  compositions  preserved;  these  exhibit  throughout  an  artist 
familiar  ■with  the  laws  of  his  art,  but  standing  high  above  them, 
receptive  of  everything  new,  and  fearing  no  difficulty.  He  was  born 
in  Ferrara  in  1587  or  1588,  studied  there  under  the  above-named 
distinguished  musicians  and  organists,  then  paid  a  visit  of  several 
years  to  the  Netherlands,  returned  in  1608  from  Antwerp  to  Milan, 
and  went  to  Rome  in  1614  with  his  teacher  Milleville.  Such  brilliant 
renown  already  preceded  him  thither,  that  according  to  report  his  I 
first   performance   as   an   organ-player    at   St.  Peter's    attracted.   "^ 


lind 

\ 


I 


1  —     17     — 

audience  of  30,000.    As  early  as  the  following-  year,  from  the  title  of 
one  of  his  collections  of  Toccatas  and  Partitas  for  the  clavier,  be 
was  installed  as  organisfa  di  San  Pietro,  which  office  he  appears  to 
have  held  until  his  death.    His  most  celebrated  pupil,  Johann  Jacob 
Frobepgep,   was   accounted  a  marvel  as  a  child,   sent  to  Rome   by 
Kaiser  Ferdinand  HI.,  and  returned  thence  after  a  stay  of  three  years 
as  the  greatest  German  clavier-player  and  organ-player  of  his  time. 
The   numerous   published   works   of  Frescobaldi   embrace    Ricercari, 
Canzoni,  Fantasie,  Toccate,  Capricci  and  Partite  for  the  clavier  and 
for   the   organ.     Though   in   all   these    compositions   we  find  mainly 
fugued  movements,  only  the  Ricercari  show  the  strict  and  regular 
working-out  of  a  distinct  principal  motive;  whereas  the  fugal  melodies 
of  the  Canzoni   are  sometimes  introduced  and  interrupted  by  a  few 
measures  in  chorale  style.    The  leading  melody  of  the  Canzone,  which 
already  bears  a  distinct  character,  remains  recognizable   even   at  a 
change  of  time  in  the  same.    Before  Frescobaldi,  the  Capriccio  fre- 
quently consisted  of  a  movement  in  binary  (common)  time,  in  which 
two  different  motives  were  worked  out.     This   was   followed   by  a 
short,  animated  movement  in  ternary  time,  like  a  dance  air;  and  a 
new,   fugued  motive  then  closed  the   composition.     The  Capricci  of 
Frescobaldi,  on  the  contrary,  are  invariably  founded  on  some  strange 
motive,   a  bizarre   subject;   and  more  particularly  in  this  does  this 
composer  reveal  himself  as  a  genius  far  outrivalling  his  contempo- 
raries through  wealth  of  invention,  and  an  easy,  skilful  mastery  of  his 
material.    Thus  we  find,  in  his  Capriccio  di  duresse,  harmonic  rough- 
nesses intentionally  sought;  in  the  Capriccio  cromatico  con  ligature  al 
contrario,  passages  chromatically  worked  out,  with  ascending  resolu- 
tions of  all  ligatures  occurring  therein— then  an  unheard-of  licence! 
Another  of  his  compositions  follows  the  compulsory  rule  (ohUigo)  that 
none  of  its  four  parts  shall  progress  by  steps;  and  the  player  of  another 
"four-part  movement  must  sing  to  the  same  throughout  a  melody  con- 
sisting of  8  tones.    While  in  the  fugues  (Ricercari)  of  the  elder  and 
younger  contemporaries  of  Frescobaldi,   moreover,   the   ecclesiastical 
modes  are  still  retained,  in  his  own  the  endeavor  is  already  often 
apparent,  to  approach  our  modern  keys  with  the  leading-note  peculiar 
to  the  same.     To  this  active  spirit  we  likewise  chiefly  owe  the  in- 
troduction of  a  more  perspicuous  notation  of  compositions  designed 
„\for  keyed  instruments.     Thus  in  the  works  engraved  on  copper  by 
AjVNicolo  Borhoni  at  Rome  in  1615,  "Toccate  e  partite  d'intavolatura  di 
^'Cenibalo  di  Girolamo  Frescobaldi,  organista  di  San  Pietro  in  Roma  , 


—     18     — 

as  well  as  in  several  similar  compositions  published  later,  the  notes 
for  the  right  hand  are  written  on  six  lines,  and  those  for  the  left  on 
eight.  Of  other  compositions  by  him  still  extant  we  mention:  II  prime 
libro  di  Fantasie  a  2,  3  e  4.  In  Milano,  1608;  Ricercari  et  Canzoni 
francesi,  fatti  sopra  diversi  oblighi,  in  partitura.  In  Roma,  1615;  II 
secondo  libro  di  Toccate,  Canzoni,  Versi  d'inni,  Magnificat,  Gagliarde, 
Correnti  ed  altre  partite  d'intavolatura  di  cembalo  ed  organo.  In 
Roma,  1616;  Capricci  sopra  diversi  sogetti  (with  likeness  of  Fresco- 
baldi).  In  Roma,  1624;  II  primo  libro  di  Capricci,  Canzoni  francesi 
€  Ricercari,  fatti  sopra  diversi  sogetti  et  Arie :  in  Partitura.  In  Venetia, 
1626;  II  primo  libro  delle  Canzoni  a  1,  2,  3,  4  voci,  per  sonare,  o 
per  cantare  con  ogni  sorte  di  stromenti.  In  Roma,  1628  (in  separate 
parts;  later  set  in  score  by  Frescobaldi's  pupil  Bartolomeo  Grassi); 
Fiori  musical!  di  Toccate,  Kyrie,  Canzoni,  Capricci,  e  Ricercari  in 
Partitura  per  sonatori  con  basso  per  organo.  In  Roma,  1635;  Toc- 
cate d'intavolatura  di  Cembalo  ed  Organo,  Partite  di  diverse  Arie, 
Correnti,  Balletti,  Ciacone,  Passacagli,  etc.     In  Roma,  1637. 

While  Frescobaldi  was  the  greatest  organist  and  clavierist  of  the 
first  half  of  the  17  th  century,  in  its  second  half  the  same  rank  was 
taken  by  a  native  of  Tuscany,  Bernardo  Pasquini  (b.  1637),  a  pupil 
of  the  noted  composer  of  cantatas  and  operas  Antonio  Cesti.  While 
yet  a  youth,  Pasquini  came  to  Rome,  and  was  engaged  as  organist 
at  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  maggiore.  But  his  remarkable  perfor- 
mances soon  rendered  him  so  famous,  that  Kaiser  Leopold  entrusted 
the  education  of  several  pupils  to  his  charge,  and  presented  him  his 
portrait  hung  on  a  gold  chain.  In  Florence  and  Rome  he  was 
overwhelmed  with  honors,  and  also  in  Paris,  where  Cardinal  Chigi 
presented  him  to  Louis  XIV.;  and  upon  his  monument  at  Rome  in  the 
church  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina  is  inscribed  the  lofty  title:  "S.  P. 
Q.  R.  organoedus".  Organist  to  the  Senate  and  the  Roman  Nation.  In 
the  year  1679  he  wrote  the  opera  "Dov'  e  amore  e  pieta"  for  the 
opening  of  the  Capranica  theatre,  in  which  he  was  engaged  as 
clavierist;  the  no  less  famous  Corelli  holding  the  position  of  leader 
of  the  violins.  He  died  at  Rome  in  1710.  One  of  his  pupils  was 
Francesco  Gasparjni,  later  highly  esteemed  in  Italy  as  a  teacher  and 
comi>oser,  and  the  author  of  a  text -book  on  thorough-bass  for 
clavierists,  "L'armonico  prattico  al  cembalo,  etc.",  which  ran  through 
seven  editions  from  its  first  appearance  in  Venice,  1683,  to  the  year 
1802.  Of  Pasquini's  compositions  but  few  have  been  printed;  among 
these  we  find  "Toccates  et  suites  pour  le  Clavecin  de  MM.  Pasquini  I 


—     19     — 

Paglietti,  et  Gaspard  Kerle.  Amsterdam,  Roger,  1704;"  yet  in  them 
the  endeavor  is  still  more  apparent  than  in  Frescobaldi's,  to  abandon 
the  earlier,  strict  style,  and  to  substitute  therefor  one  more  free  and 
pleasing,  and  better  suited  to  the  clavier.  His  Toccatas,  therefore, 
no  longer  appear  as  pieceo  contrapuntally  elaborated  for  a  regular 
number  of  parts,  but  he  follows  in  the  same  the  more  buoyant  flight 
of  his  fancy,  now  in  broad,  sweeping  arpeggios,  and  again  by 
strengthening  through  prolonged  trills  the  unsustained  clavier -tone; 
here  one  part  appears  alone,  there  two  or  more  conjoined;  flowing 
passages  are  now  taken  up  in  the  right  hand,  now  in  the  left;  then 
one  or  several  motives  are  fugued  in  a  movement  held  more  strictly 
in  hand,  the  second  division  of  which  resumes  the  livelier  runs  of 
the  first  movement,  and  winds  up  the  composition  with  the  same. 

Our  modern  major  and  minor  keys  having  supplanted,  since  the 
beginning  of  the  18  th  century,  the  ancient  modes,  and  the  finally 
established  equal  temperament  of  the  clavier  permitting  compositions 
to  be  written  for  the  same  in  all  these  keys  (whereby  a  new  and 
wide  field  was  opened  for  modulation  as  well),  a  genius  was  still 
wanting,  who  should  be  capable  of  employing  the  art- forms  and 
effects  developed  by  the  masters  .hitherto  named  not  only  for  the 
sensuous  enjoyment  of  the  ear,  but  rather  for  the  expression  of  inner 
feelings  and  emotional  phases,  and  thus  at  length  to  inspire  the  com- 
positions intended  for  this  instrument  with  a  living  spirit.  The  seed 
so  abundantly  strewn  by  the  earlier  composers  required  fecundation, 
the  form  so  artistically  constructed  needed  the  inpiration  of  emotion, 
if  compositions  designed  of  the  clavier  should  answer,  like  others, 
the  higher  ends  of  music,  by  giving  intelligible  expression  to  all 
feelings  and  moods  of  the  soul. 

In  Naples,  where  the  melodious  element,  as  best  suited  to  the 
hot-blooded  Italian  temperament,  had  from  the  earliest  times  been 
specially  fostered  and  cultivated,  the  great  reformer  and  inspirer  of 
the  opera,  Alessandro  Scarlatti,  had  labored  since  1709  by  word 
and  deed;  and  the  Neapolitan  school,  which  finally  united  the  pure 
Roman  style  with  the  freer  form- development  of  the  Venetian  school, 
took  precedence  of  all  other  schools  in  Italy,  especially  when  its 
renowned  representative  Francesco  Durante  stood  at  its  head.  His 
son  Domenico  was  in  his  time  as  active  an  inventor  and  refoimer, 
in  the'*field  of  clavier-literature,  as  Alessandro  Scarlatti  in  dramatic- 
matters,  and  his  performances  were  received  with  the  greatest 
enthusiasm  not  only  by  his  own  countrymen,  but  also  by  the  German 

a* 


—     20     — 

musicians  who  met  him,  among  others  the  equally  eminent  composer 
and  clavier-player  Johann  Adolph  Hasse  (il  Sassone,  1699—1783). 
Dommjco  Scarlatti,  born  in  Naples,  1683,  began  his  musical  studies 
under  his  father,  and  finished  the  same  under  the  guidance  of  the 
above-mentioned  Gasparini.  In  the  year  1709  he  met  Handel  in 
Venice,  and  accompanied  this  master,  whom  he  deeply  revered,  to 
Rome,  to  benefit  by  longer  study  of  his  works  and  his  performances 
as  an  organist  and  clavierist.  The  German  school,  then  in  full  vigor, 
thus  appears  to  have  exercised  thenceforward  its  beneficial  influence 
on  the  Italian;  so  that  the  wearer  of  Scarlatti's  mantle,  Clementi, 
who  was  gifted  with  an  equally  glowing  imagination,  was  enabled 
to  take  rank  among  the  heads  of  the  newer,  universal  school  of 
clavier-playing.  In  1715  Domiuico  Scarlatti  was  appointed  maestro 
di  cappella  to  the  Vatican  at  Rome,  went  in  1719  to  London,  to 
bring  out  one  of  his  musical  dramas  in  that  city  and  to  assume  the 
position  of  harpsichord  player  at  the  Italian  opera;  thence  he  jour- 
neyed to  Lisbon,  where  the  king  attached  him  to  his  court  under 
the  most  flattering  conditions.  We  again  find  him  in  1726  at  Naples, 
later  at  Rome,  and  finally  (1729)  at  the  Spanish  court  in  Madrid, 
where  he  lived  in  the  fullest  prosperity,  and  died  in  1757  as  the 
greatest  virtuoso  of  his  time  and  most  influential  composer  for  his 
instrument.  The  personal  influence  exercised  by  this  gifted  master 
in  the  places  enumerated  was  of  lasting  eff'ect,  and  his  highly  ar- 
tistic and  effective  compositions,  of  which  Abbot  Santini  of  Rome 
possessed  349  for  organ  and  clavier  alone,  insure  remembrance  of 
his  name  in  the  history  of  music.  They  all  reveal  an  extraordinary 
inventive  talent,  contain  pleasing,  though  not  long-breathed  melodies, 
sti-iking  rhythms,  and  flowing  passages  practicable  in  the  swiftest 
tempo,  in  which  the  hands  are  frequently  to  be  passed  over  each 
other.  These  are  no  longer  the  art-forms  of  the  Netherlanders,  pro- 
ducts of  pure  mental  skill,  but  the  heart-outpourings  of  an  Italian 
inspired  by  his  art.  His  compositions,  whose  worth  has  by  no  means 
been  fully  recognized,  contain  effects  of  style  and  tone  not  again  ~ 
employed  until  long  after,  and  then  with  immense  success.  Thas'  we 
already  find  in  his  Sonatas  (usually  sound-pieces  consisting  of  a  single 
movement)  running  passages  in  thirds  and  sixths;  the  rapid  repetition 
on  one  key  of  various  fingers;  leaps  wider  than  an  octave  with  one 
hand;  broken  chords  for  both  hands  in  contrary  motion;  and  other 
effects  quite  novel  at  that  time.  To  be  sure,  his  works  commonly 
hold  fast  to  a  selected,  characteristic  principal  motive;  but  at  the 


—     21     - 

same  time  the  accompanyin,?  parts,  especially  the  bass,  are  always 
interestingly  and  effectively  worked  out.  A  collection  of  his  clavier- 
works  has  been  published  under  the  title  of  "(Euvi-es  complettes  de 
D.  Scarlatti",  Cah.  1—8,  Vienna,  chez  Riedl;  another,  edited  by  Carl 
Czerny,  bearing-  the  title  "Siimmtliche  Werke  fur  das  Pianoforte  (?) 
von  D.  Scarlatti",  15  Parts  (120  pieces),  Vienna,  Haslinger;  and 
published  separately.  Fugues,  Paris,  Janet  et  Cie.;  Sonata  con  fiig-a, 
Vienna,  Cappi. 

The  term  "for  the  Pianoforte"  on  the  edition  of  his  works 
edited  by  Czerny,  is  evidently  erroneous.  For  althoug:h  Bartoiomei 
Chrisjoforj  bad  built  in  Italy ,^  as  early  as  1711,  claviers  whose 
strings  could  be  struck  by  hammers  pimm  or  forte,  we  nevertheless 
"owe"tlie  production  of  the  first  practically  useful  Pianofortes  to  the 
unremitting  experiments  and  improvements  of  Gottfried  Siibermann, 
begun  in  1726;  whose  instruments,  however,  as  the  History  of  the 
Pianoforte  at  the  end  of  this  book  shows,  were  not  widely  employed 
until  after  Scarlatti's  death. 

In  Scarlatti's  compositions  the  first  movement  of  the  modern 
Sonata,  i.  e.  the  proper  sonata-form,  is  already  established  in  its 
fundamental  outlines.  These  pieces  usually  consist  of  two  parts, 
each  of  which  is  to  be  repeated.  The  first  contains  the  exposition 
of  the  piece;  it  begins  with  the  principal  theme  or  motive  in  the 
principal  key,  effects  a  transition  through  the  passages  and  runs  fol- 
lowing to  a  related  secondary  key,  and  closes  in  the  latter  with  an 
extended  cadence.  In  major,  the  modulatory  contrast  usually  chosen 
is  the  key  of  the  dominant;  in  minor,  either  the  relative  major,  or 
the  minor  or  major  key  of  the  dominant.  The  second  part  then 
works  up  the  material  of  the  first,  modulating  back  into  the  principal 
key;  now  takes  up  the  beginning  of  the  piece,  or  some  later  passage 
in  the  exposition,  repeats  the  motives  of  the  first  part,  this  time  in 
the  principal  key,  and  closes  in  the  latter,  generally  with  a  cadence 
similar  to  that  of  the  first  part.  Sometimes  there  enters,  with  the 
modulatory  conti'ast  of  the  first  part,  a  thought  essentially  different 
from  the  principal  motive — a  most  striking  reminder  of  our  modern 
sonata-form.  In  his  rhythms  and  modulations  Scarlatti  is  often  bold 
and  original.  E.  g.  the  fifth  Sonata  in  the  first  number  of  Czerny's 
edition  begins  with  a  clear-cut  musical  thought  of  five  measures  in 
J.-major,  which  is  repeated,  and  to  which  episodes  are  added,  mo- 
dulating through  Z)-minor  and  J.-minor  to  ^-minor,  in  which  key  the 
author  dwells,  and  closes  the  first  part.     The  second  passes  through 


—     22     — 

the  jB-major  triad  to  ^-major,  touching  D-major  on  the  way,  and  a 
sustained  tone,  E^  leads  us  to  J.-minor.  In  this  key  the  motives  of 
the  first  part  are  now  repeated,  and  the  Sonata  closes  in  the  same, 
as  did  the  first  part. 

The  above-mentioned  Francesco  Durante  is  another  of  the  com- 
posers, to  whom  we  owe  the  expansion  of  the  clavier-sonata  through 
the  combination  of  several  movements  outwardly  different,  but  in- 
wardly in  harmonious  affinity.  In  his  six  "Sonate  per  Cembalo,  divise 
in  studii  e  divertimenti",  published  in  Naples,  each  Studio  —  a  lively, 
freely  fugued  movement,  relieved  by  flowing  passages  and  variously 
broken  chords,  wherein  to  two  parts  a  third  or  fourth  is  occasionally 
added — is  followed  by  a  short  Divertimento  in  the  same  key,  con- 
sisting of  two  parts,  and  less  artificially  elaborated,  but  pleasingly 
animated.  This  uniting  of  two  pieces  of  different  character  as  one 
sonata  was  practiced  thereafter  by  various  influential  Italian  com- 
posers, and  fully  developed  or  completely  transformed.  Thus  the 
"Vin  Sonate  per  Cembalo,  opera  prime  da  Dominico  Alberti"  (be- 
fore me  lies  the  edition  printed  by  J,  Walsh,  London),  at  first  disse- 
minated in  MS,  and  later  printed  in  London  and  Paris,  were  for  a 
time  much  sought  after  and  liked.  Each  consists  of  a  rather  long 
Allegro  or  Andante  of  two  parts,  in  the  sonata-form  just  described, 
followed  by  a  more  or  less  extended  movement  in  the  key  of  that 
preceding,  and  in  the  form  of  an  Andante,  Allegro,  Minuet,  Giga- 
Presto,  Tempo  di  Minuetto  with  variations,  or  Presto  assai.  The 
principal  theme  and  the  other  divisions  of  the  Sonata  are  not,  how- 
ever, accompanied  by  a  contrapuntally  independent  bass,  like  the 
works  previously  discussed,  but  the  bass  serves  here  merely  as  a 
subordinate  support  to  the  leading  highest  part,  and  often  breaks  the 
full  harmony  of  a  chord  in  the  following  manner: 

Sonata  "VI. 

Allegro  moderato. 

I 
I 

For  dilettanti,  in  particular,  this  style  of  accompaniment  was 
more  convenient  than  the  contrapuntal  bass-passages  of  Durante  and 
other  workmanlike  wntera     Tt  was  dubbed  the   "Alberti  bass",   and 


■^m-^         f-mj^      t-^^      ^♦^        ■^■»-f-         ■^♦H^      •^■•-#-      -f^^-^ 


—     23     — 

the  abuse  of  the  same  by  later  composers  is  the  reason,  that  the 
development  of  the  pianist's  left  hand  is  often  less  carefully  attended 
to,  than  was  formerly  thought  necessary.  In  1737  Dominico  Albcrti, 
then  twenty  years  of  ag-e,  was  among  the  suite  of  the  Venetian  am- 
bassador at  Eome,  and  was  in  high  estimation  there  on  account  of 
his  musical  gifts  as  a  singer  and  clavier-player.  The  twelve  "Senate 
di  Gravicembalo  da  Pier  Domenico  Paradies,  Napolitano",  no  longer 
show  the  fuguing  style  of  earlier  contrapuntists,  but  their  working-up, 
both  musically  and  technically,  is  by  far  more  artistic  than  that  of 
Alberti's,  in  which  the  strict  style  is  also  abandoned.  Domenico 
Paradies  was  born  in  Naples  about  1710,  and  finished  his  musical 
studies  there.  After  several  of  his  operas  had  been  given  in  Lucca 
and  Venice,  he  proceeded  to  London  in  1747,  brought  out  a  new 
tragic  opera  of  his  own  composing,  and  then  settled  down  as  a 
clavier- teacher  in  that  city,  which  extends  a  friendly  welcome  to 
all  foreign  musicians  of  repute.  In  the  year  1754  he  published, 
through  J.  Blundell  of  London,  the  12  Sonates  before  mentioned. 
Like  Durante's  Sonatas,  those  by  Paradies  consist  of  two  movements 
alike  in  key  but  differing  in  tempo.  The  first  and  more  extended 
movement  has  two  parts,  the  first  of  which  closes  regularly  in  the 
dominant  of  the  principal  key.  The  tempo  of  the  same  is  either 
allegro,,  the  second,  shorter  movement  being  a  Vivace  or  Presto, 
sometimes  a  soft,  melodious  aria;— or  the  Sonata  begins  with  an  An- 
dante, followed  by  a  grave  Minuetto  or  a  lively  Giga.  The  two-part 
style,  which  was  best  adapted  to  the  tone  and  touch  of  the  clavi- 
chords, spinets,  and  virginals  of  the  period,  still  forms  the  basis  of 
these  pieces,  but  is  handled  so  boldly  and  brilliantly  that  they 
served  as  studies  even  for  Clementi  himself. 

Of  the  masters  named  as  yet,  the  following  works  have  been 
published  by  Bartholf  Senff,  Leipzig,  in  the  collection  entitled  "Alte 
Claviermusik",  edited  by  E.  Pauer:  Frescobaldi,  Correute  and  Canzona; 
Alessandro  Scarlatti,  Fugue;  Domenico  Scarlatti,  3  Studii;  Durante, 
Studio;  Pietro  Domenico  Paradisi,  Sonata.  The  correct  name  of  the 
last  is  Pier  Domenico  Paradies.  A  similar,  very  carefully  edited 
collection  by  H.  M.  Schletterer  has  been  published  by  J.  Rieter-Bieder- 
mann,  Leipzig,  with  the  following  title:  "Classische  Claviercompositionen 
aus  alterer  Zeit"  (classic  Clavier  Corap.  of  Earlier  Times)  containing  3 
Studii  e  Divertimenti  by  F.  Durante,  and  18  Sonatas  by  Scarlatti, 
all  in  one  movement.  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  have  also  issued  60  Sonatas 
by  Scarlatti,  either  separate,  in  6  Numbers,  or  in  1  Volume. 


—     24     — 

To  judge  of  the  music  of  earlier  times  impartially  and  justly, 
one  should  not  set  it  in  direct  contrast  witli  that  of  to-day,  and  com- 
pare it  with  this  latter,  but  regard  it  as  a  necessary  intermediate 
link  in  the  historical  development  of  our  art,  at  the  same  time  going 
back  in  thought  and  feeling  to  the  period  which  gave  it  birth  and 
to  the  genius  and  bent  of  the  people  in  whose  midst  it  arose. 

The  now  frequent  modernizing  of  earlier  compositions  by  striking 
out  certain  apparent  harshnesses  in  melody,  harmony,  or  rhythm,  by 
adding  more  full-sounding  chords,  more  brilliant  figuration,  etc.,  robs 
the  original  work  of  its  true  character,  clothes  the  worthy  composer 
of  the  olden  time  in  a  garb  unsuited  to  him  and  his  age,  and  often 
disfigured,  and  is  to  be  utterly  eschewed  under  all  circumstances. 


The  earlier  English  Clavier  School. 

As  early  as  the  7  th  century  the  Gregorian  church-song  was  pro- 
pagated by  papal  singers  in  England;  in  the  15  th  century  lived  John 
Dunstable  (d.  1458),  who  won  renown  not  only  as  a  musician,  but 
as  an  astronomer  as  well.  Pie  is  often  cited  as  a  musical  authority, 
together  witli  Binchoys  and  Dufay,  by  Tinctoris,  Gaforius,  and  other 
earlier  theoreticians,  under  the  name  of  Dunstaple  and  Donstable.* 
Among  the  court  musicians  of  Eduard  VI.  we  find,  besides  the  singers, 
lutists,  harpers,  flutists,  rebec  and  bagpipe -players,  trumpeters  and 
drummers,  three  virginal  players;  and  in  1575  Thomas  Tahis   and 


*  Barney  (History  of  Music,  Vol.  II,  p.  339)  mentions  a  treatise  by  Dun- 
stable "De  mensurabile  musica"  as  lost.  Since  then,  however,  it  has  been 
found,  and  is  at  present,  an  ancient  paper  manuscript  written  In  Latin,  in 
the  British  Museum,  "Add.  Mss.  10,  336",  sheet  6  to  18,  among  various 
musical  essays  As  the  treatise  has  not  yet  been  described,  and  can  in  any 
event  be  understood  only  by  a  musician  v?ho  is  also  familiar  with  paleo- 
graphy, I  will  state  in  brief  the  contents  of  this  unique  document.  The 
author  treats  of  the  various  kinds  of  notes,  shows  the  black  shapes  of  the 
maxima,  longa,  brevis,  semibrevis,  and  minima,  discusses  their  value  under 
certain  conditions,  and  gives  seven  rules  for  their  length  when  any  one  of 
the  same  stands  before,  between,  or  after  notes  of  a  kind  differing  from  itself. 
Further,  he  treats  of  the  rests,  prolation,  perfection,  of  the  dot  beside  a 
note,  which  may  be  either  a  punchis  pcrfectionis  or  punctus  divisionis;  of  the 
red  and  black,  full  and  empty  notes:  lays  down  eight  rules  for  the  value  of 
the  figures  in  the  ligatures,  discusses  the  syncopes,  and  illustrates  all  points 
by  numerous    examples   in  notes.     The  very  distinctly  wi-itten    signature   is 


—     25     — 

Ids  celebrated  pupil,  William  Bird,  were  appointed  organists  to  Queen 
Elizabeth.  In  a  MS  still  extant,  known  to  us  under  the  name  of 
"Queen  Elizabeth's  Virginal  Book",  are  preserved  clavier-compositions 
of  the  two  musicians  just  mentioned,  and  also  by  Giles,  Farnaby, 
Dr.  Bull,  and  others.  Among  these  we  find  the  Fancie  or  Fantasie, 
which  imitates  and  fugues  various  motives  following  each  other;  further, 
the  Pavane  in  common  (binary)  time,  whose  theme  is  repeated  by  a 
Galli^de  following  in  triple  (te.-nary)  time,  and  the  Variations,  v/hose 
air  (usually  that  of  a  popular  folk-song)  is  played  throughout  in  one 
part,  while  the  other  parts  accompany  it  with  imitating  runs  and 
passages.  For  each  hand  a  staff  of  six  lines  is  employed.  But  even 
the  seventy  compositions  found  in  this  clavier -book  which  were 
written  by  Bird,  whom  the  English  praise  so  highly,  are  heavy  and 
wanting  in  grace,  though  often  ingeniously  and  artistically  wi-ought 
out.  Dr.  Bull,  on  the  other  hand,  already  sets  the  clavier-player  the 
most  difficult  tasks;  in  a  suite  of  Variations  he  wi-ites,  to  a  cantus 
firmns  in  the  highest  part,  now  two  notes  against  three,  and  again 
gives  the  left  hand  comparatively  rapid  passages  in  thirds  and  sixths 
to  play,  etc.  In  Burney's  History  of  Music,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  89,  115,  etc. 
are  to  be  found  various  compositions  taken  from  this  Virginal  Book 
of  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  first  printed  clavier-compositions  appeared 
in  England  under  her  successor,  James  I.  (1603  —  1625),  bearing  the 
following  title:  "Parthenia  or  The  Maydenhead  of  the  first  musieke 
that  euer  was  printed  for  the  Virginalls  composed  by  three  famous 
Masters  William  Byrde,  Dr.  John  Bull  and  Orlando  Gibbons,  Gentilmen 
of  his  Ma*^^^  most  Illustrious  Chappell.  Ingrauen  by  William  Hole". 
Although  the  most  eminent  English  composers  of  the  17  th  centmy, 
Orlando  Gibbons  (1583—1625),  Pelham  Humphry  (1647—1674),  and 
Henry  Purcell  (1658—1695),  wrote  mainly  for  the  voice,  the  last- 
named  being  also  an  extremely  admired  opera-composer,  compositions 
by  them  for  the  organ  are  still  extant;  and  Henry  Purcell  had  a 
collection  of  clavier  sonatas  printed  in  London,  1683.  The  characteristic 
expression  of  this  earlier  English  clavier  school  is  a  wearisome  mono- 
tony of  melody,  rhythm,  and  modulation;  it  has  therefore  had  no  in- 
fluence whatever  on  the  further  development  of  the  art  of  clavier- 
playing,  which  latter  could  attain  to  a  higher  degree  of  perfection 
in  England  only  under  the  fostering  care  of  masters  from  abroad, 
who  have  ever  met  with  flattering  recognition  in  that  country. 

In  his  collection  of  "Alte  Claviermusik"  E.  Pauer  gives  the  fol- 
lowing compositions  of  the  earlier  English  masters  here  mentioned: 


—     26     — 

W.  Bird,  Prelude  and  The  Carman's  Whistle;  Dr.  John  Bull.  The 
King's  Hunting-  Jigg;  0.  Gibbons,  Prelude  and  Galliarde.  The  first 
collection  of  English  Clavier-music  cited  above,  the  ''Parthenia".  has 
been  re-issued  by  the  London  Antiq.  Mus.  Soc,  edited  and  furnished 
with  an  introduction  on  the  earliest  epoch  of  Clavier-playing  by  the 
musical  scientist  Edw.  F.  Rimbault.  The  latter  is  also  the  author  of 
an  excellent  work  (Robt.  Cocks:  London,  1860)  entitled  ''The  History 
of  the  Pianoforte",  which  treats  in  detail  of  the  origin,  development, 
and  construction  of  this  instrument,  contains  notes  on  its  precursors, 
such  as  the  clavichord,  virginal,  spinet,  and  harpsichord,  and  to 
which  specimens  of  the  earlier  clavier-pieces  of  the  best  masters  are 
appended. 

The  Earlier  French  Clavier  School. 

A  lasting  influence  was  exercised  on  the  perfecting  of  our  art 
by  an  Organ  and  Clavier  School   which  arose  in  France  toward  the 
middle  of  the  17  th  century,  more  particularly  through  the  evolution 
of  a  more  elegant,  rhythmically  defined,  and  richly  embellished  clavier 
style.     Its  last  distinguished  eleve,  Jean  Phillipe  Rameau,   (d.  1764) 
was  likewise  the  reformer  of  the  French  opera  and  the  founder  of  a 
system  of  harmony  still  current  in  part  to  this  day.  Andre  Champion 
(commonly  called  de  Chambonnieres  after  an  estate  belonging  to  his 
wife),  a  highly  esteemed  court  clavier-player  to  Louis  XIV.,  is  to  be 
regarded  as  the  head  of  this  earlier  French  school.     According  to 
the  report  of  a  contemporary,  Le  Gallois,  he  is  said  to  have  drawn 
such  an  unusually  full  tone  from  the  Clavecin  (harpsichord)  tbrouirh 
his  peculiar  style  of  touch,  that  only  his  pupil  Hardelle  was  able 
partially  to  approach  him  in  this  art.    Most  distinguished  amono-  his 
pupils  after  the  latter  are  the  following:    Buret,  Gautier,  le  Begue 
d'Anglebert,    Louis    Couperin,    and    Fran^-ois   Couperin.     In    the    two 
books  of  clavier-pieces   by  Chambonnieres   published   in  Paris,   the 
first  of  which  bears  the  date  of  his  death,  1670,  we  already  find  the 
groundwork   of  that  briglitly   embellished    clavier   style,    which    con- 
tinued  down   to  Rameau's   time.     F6tis,   who  had  before  him  these 
compositions,  now  extant  in  but  rare  copies,   finds  their  style  naive 
and   graceful,    and    their    pure    harmonic    structure    worthy    of   the 
closest  attention. 

The  above-named  Jean  Henry  d'Anglebert  was  also  a  clavier- 
player   at   the    court   of  Louis  XIV.,    whose  luxurious  splendor  and 


—     27     — 

punctilious  etiquette  is  distinctly  called  to  mind  by  the  compositions 
of  this  old  school  still  in  existence.  In  the  year  1689  he  published 
a  work  under  the  following  title:  "Pieces  de  clavecin  avec  la  mani^re 
de  les  jouer,  diverses  chaconnes,  ouvertures,  et  autres  airs  de  M.  de 
Lully,  mis  sur  cet  instrument,  quelques  fugues  pour  I'orgue,  et  les 
principes  de  I'accompagnement  Livre  premier".  Among  the  clavier 
pieces  of  this  collection  we  find  22  Variations  on  the  theme  of 
"Folies  d'Espagne",  already  treated  in  like  manner  by  Corelli  and 
later  by  Scarlatti;  and  the  fugues  for  organ  are  strict  and  carefully 
wrought  out. 

In  the  two  Couperins  also  named  as  pupils  of  Chambonnieres  we 
were  introduced  to  a  family,  whose  members  upheld  its  renown  as 
remarkable  musicians  down  to  the  19  th  century.  Louis  Couperin, 
born  in  1630  in  Chaume,  was,  like  his  two  younger  brothers,  gifted 
with  eminent  musical  talent.  In  the  flower  of  his  youth  he  went  to 
Paris,  and  obtained  there  the  position  of  organist  at  the  church  of 
St.  Gervais.  Of  his  compositions,  only  three  suites  of  clavier-pieces, 
in  MS,  have  come  down  to  us.  FranQois  Couperin  was  appointed, 
after  his  brother's  death,  to  his  office  at  the  church  of  St.  Gervais. 
He  attained  to  high  repute  as  a  clavier-teacher;  indeed,  the  strictness 
of  the  style  of  his  organ  compositions  was  reached  by  no  other 
subsequent  French  composer.  The  youngest  of  the  three,  Charles 
Couperin,  followed  his  brother  as  organist  at  the  same  church, 
retaining  this  position  until  his  decease  in  1669.  The  son  of  the 
latter,  named,  like  his  uncle,  Frangois  Couperin,  not  without  reason 
received  the  surname  of  "le  Grand".  For  by  his  fine  playing  on  the 
organ  and  clavier,  and  also  by  his  pleasing  compositions,  he  surpassed 
by  far  the  majority  of  his  immediate  rivals  in  these  branches  of 
music.  In  1701  he  became  court  clavier- player,  and  at  the  same 
time  organist  of  the  royal  chapelle,  and  died  at  the  age  of  63  in  the 
year  1733.  By  him  are  still  extant  four  books  of  clavier-pieces 
published  in  Paris  (1713  etc.);  further  "Les  gouts  reunies,  ou  nouveaux 
concerts,  augmentes  de  I'apotheose  de  Corelli  en  Trio.  Paris,  1717", 
and  finally  "L'apotheose  de  I'incomparable  L(ully)".  Besides  these, 
Couperin  published  in  Paris,  1717,  a  Harpsichord  Method  entitled: 
"L'art  de  toucher  du  clavecin",  wherein,  as  Tiirk  remarks  in  a  similar 
work  in  1789,  "he  appears  as  a  pioneer,  opening  the  way  for  others". 
Couperin  retains,  throughout  the  great  number  of  his  published  works 
an  individual,  artistic,  and  brilliant  style  of  composition.  His  clavier- 
pieces  are  mainly  in  two  parts,  seldom  provided  with  a  third  or  a 


—     28     — 

full  chord;  almost  all  are  in  contrapuntal  style,  but  the  highest  part 
generally  bears  the  principal  melody,  and  this  latter,  like  the  inner 
parts  and  bass,  is  so  overladen  with  appoggiaturas,  trills,  and' other 
graces,  that  the  melody,  often  in  itself  really  elegant  and  graceful, 
appears,  as  it  were,  like  a  high -frizzed  beauty  hidden  by  si,  richly 
wrought  lace  veil.  He  modulates  to  the  keys  related  to  the  tonic 
by  the  third  and  fifth;  and  in  his  works  the  peculiarity  of  that  method 
is  strongly  prominent,  through  which  greater  fulness  was  lent  to  the 
weak  tone  of  the  harpsichord  by  keeping  down  the  keys  with  all  the 
fingers  engaged  even  in  the  most  variously  broken  chords,  thus  con- 
tinuing the  vibration  of  the  strings. 

As  renowned  an  organist  and  clavier-player  as  Frangois  Cou- 
perin,  though  by  no  means  so  estimable  a  composer,  was  his  con- 
temporary Louis  Marchand.  He  was  born  in  Lyons  in  1669,  and 
received  the  appointment  of  organist  at  the  cathedral  of  Nevers  when 
not  quite  14.  He  remained  there  ten  years,  went  thence  to  Auxerre 
and  then  to  Paris,  where  he  was  at  first  engaged  as  organist  at  the 
Jesuit  church,  but  was  later  appointed  to  a  like  position  at  several 
other  churches  together.  Subsequently  the  king  made  him  court  or- 
ganist at  Versailles,  and  dubbed  him  knight  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Michael.  But  with  his  growing  fame  also  grew  his  pride  and  reckless- 
ness, and  while  revelling  in  pleasui'es  of  every  kind,  he  often  left 
his  universally  honored  wife  without  the  bare  necessaries  of  life. 
The  king,  having  gained  intelligence  of  this,  gave  the  order,  that 
half  of  Marchand's  salary  should  be  withheld  from  him,  and  paid 
to  his  wife  instead.  Soon  after  this  order  went  into  effect,  ]\Iarchand 
was  to  play  the  mass  at  Versailles  before  the  entii-e  court.  In  the 
Agnus  Dei  the  organ  suddenly  stopped;  Marchand  left  the  church,  and 
everybody  supposed  him  to  be  taken  seriously  ill  At  the  close  of 
the  seiTices,  however,  the  king  found  him  promenading  in  the  best 
of  health  hard  by  the  palace.  On  asking  the  reason  of  the  foregoing 
disturbance  of  the  holy  office,  Marchand  answered:  "Sire,  as  my  wife 
draws  half  my  salary,  she  may  also  play  half  the  mass!"  The  king 
received  this  impertinent  reply  so  ungraciously,  that  Marchand  was 
banished  for  a  considerable  time  from  France.  The  meeting  occurring 
thereafter  between  this  organist,  once  so  highly  honored  in  France, 
with  Sebastian  Bach,  is  related  by  Marpurg  according  to  Bach's  own 
account  as  follows:  "Marchand,  during  his  banishment  from  France, 
came  in  1717  to  Dresden,  played  before  the  king  of  Poland  vTith 
great  applause,  and  was  so  fortunate  as  to  have  offered  him  a  posi- 


--     29     — 

tion  in  tlie  royal  service  worth  some  thousands  of  thalers.  To  the 
orchestra  of  this  prince  was  attached  at  the  time  a  French  leader  by 
the  name  of  Volumier,  who  either  regarded  his  countryman's  pro- 
spective good  fortune  with  envious  eyes,  or  had  been  incidentally 
aggrieved  by  him.  He  represented  to  the  court  musicians,  how 
Marchand  scoffed  at  all  German  clavierists,  and  held  council  with 
them,  how  the  pride  of  this  Goliath  might  be  at  least  humbled  in 
some  measure,  even  should  it  not  be  possible  to  rid  the  court  of  his 
presence.  Keceiving  assurance  that  the  "Kammer-  und  Hoforganist" 
at  Weimar,  Sebastian  Bach,  was  a  man  at  any  rate  a  match  for  the 
French  court  organist,  if  not  able  to  surpass  him,  Volumier  immediately 
wrote  to  Weimar  and  invited  Herr  Bach  to  come  to  Dresden  without 
delay,  and  break  a  lance  with  the  celebrated  M.  Marchand.  Bach  came, 
and  with  the  king's  consent,  without  Marchand's  knowledge,  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  next  court  concert  as  an  auditor.  After  Marchand  had 
played,  among  other  matters,  a  French  air  with  numerous  variations, 
and  had  been  loudly  applauded  for  the  skill  displayed  in  the  varia- 
tions, and  likewise  for  his  neat  and  fiery  execution,  Bach,  who  was 
,  standing  near  him,  was  invited  to  try  the  Harpsichord.  He  acceded 
to  the  request,  beginning  with  a  short  though  masterly  prelude;  then 
quite  unexpectedly  repeated  the  air  played  by  Marchand,  and  added 
a  dozen  variations  with  new  art  in  a  style  never  heard  before. 
Marchand,  who  till  then  had  outrivalled  all  other  organists,  doubtless 
recognized  the  superiority  of  his  present  opponent;  for  when  Bach 
took  the  liberty  of  inviting  him  to  a  friendly  trial  of  skill  on  the 
organ,  handing  him  to  that  end  a  theme,  sketched  on  a  sheet  of 
paper,  to  be  worked  out  at  sight,  and  requesting  a  similar  theme 
from  him,  Marchand  never  appeared  on  the  appointed  field  of  battle, 
but  thought  it  more  prudent  to  leave  Dresden  by  extra -post."  — 
Marchand  returned  to  Paris,  and  soon  succeeded  in  re-establishing  his 
former  fame,  so  that  it  became  the  fashion  to  take  clavier  lessons 
of  him;  indeed,  to  meet  the  wishes  of  pupils  dwelling  at  a  great 
distance  from  each  other,  he  hired  lodgings  simultaneously  in  different 
^quarters  of  the  city,  staying  now  in  one,  and  now  in  another.  Although 
Qj,t  this  time,  as  Marpurg  relates,  he  had  to  give  nine  or  ten  lessons 
laily,  the  price  of  which  had  risen  to  a  louisd'or,  he  was  unable  to 
iover  his  prodigal  expenses  with  this  income,  and  died  in  1732  in 
tpxtreme  poverty. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Germany,  Marchand  again  assumed 
Jhe  position  of  organist  in  several  churches,  and  his  remarkable  play- 


—     30     — 

ing  always  attracted  throngs  of  listeners.  Even  Ramjau,  later  so 
renowned  as  a  theoretician  and  opera  composer,  came  to  Paris  from 
his  native  city  Dijon,  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  this  feted  organ- 
player.  Marchand  welcomed  him  in  a  friendly  manner,  gave  him 
some  lessons,  and  soon  entrusted  several  of  his  places  as  organist 
to  Ms  charge.  But  after  Eameau  had  shown  his  teacher  some 
of  his  own  artistically  elaborated  compositions,  the  jealousy  of 
Marchand  was  thereby  awakened  so  strongly,  that  he  tried  every 
means  to  get  his  then  unknown  and  quite  penniless  pupil  away 
from  Paris. 

The  post  of  organist  at  the  church  of  St.  Paul  became  vacant 
in  1727,  and  Rameau,  together  with  Louis  Claude  Daquin,  admired 
from  his  eighth  year  onward  as  a  clavier-player,  applied  for  the  same. 
Marchand,  being  appointed  umpire  of  the  trial  of  skill  ensuing,  awarded 
the  prize  to  Daquin  for  the  reasons  before  alluded  to;  the  latter  held 
his  office  with  honor,  it  is  true,  up  to  his  78th  year,  but  as  a  com- 
poser was  assuredly  not  the  equal  of  his  rival  Rameau;  for  his  very 
insignificant  organ  and  clavier  compositions  cannot  in  the  least  bear 
comparison  with  the  artistic  works  of  Rameau.  —  Ballard  of  Paris 
published  in  1705  a  book  of  pieces  for  the  clavecin,  and  in  1717 
two  similar  collections  dedicated  to  the  king.  Among  Rameau's  com- 
positions, on  the  other  hand,  we  must  mention:  "Nouvelles  suites  de 
pieces  de  clavecin,  avec  des  remarques  sur  les  diflferens  genres  de 
musique."  Furthermore,  he  published  in  Paris:  Premier  livre  de  pieces 
de  clavecin,  1706;  Deuxieme  livre,  1721;  Pieces  de  clavecin  avee 
une  table  pour  les  agremens;  and  finally,  "Trois  concertos  pour 
clavecin,  violon  et  basse  de  viole",  Paris  1741,  Leclerc.  His  clavier 
style  is  freer,  and  often  fuller,  than  that  of  his  predecessors;  for  he 
more  frequently  employs  three  parts,  and  occasionally  even  supports 
his  melodies  by  a  series  of  chord-tones  struck  successively  or  together. 
The  popular  dance -airs  were  already  used  in  France,  as  elsewhere, 
in  clavier-pieces  of  strongly  marked  rhythm;  and  the  desire,  to  lend 
the  compositions  a  definite  character,  is  shown  in  the  titles  given 
below  as  examples,  such  being  frequently  bestowed.  Rameau,  who 
died  in  Paris,  1764,  was  the  last  of  the  more  eminent  clavierists  an( 
or"'anists  of  this  earlier  French  school;  and  the  sequel  will  show,  tha 
Since  that  time  the  German  school,  which  had  meanwhile  reached 
vigorous  maturity,  began  to  exercise  a  lasting  influence  in  France  aa 
well.  There,  too,  true  musicians  both  of  native  and  foreign  origir, 
were  now  confronted  by  the  problem,  constantly  to  extend  and  enhance 


—     31     — 

the  resources  and  effects  of  the  clavier,  in  order  that  it  might  give 
most  truthful  expression  to  all  phases  of  emotion. 

In  E.  Pauer's  "Alte  Claviermusik"  we  find,  among  other  things, 
an  Allemande,  Courante,  and  Sarabande  by  J.  Champion  de  Chamboii- 
ni6res;  also  several  clavier-pieces  by  Francois  Couperin,  e.  g.  "La 
tcndre  Nanette"  and  "La  Tenebreuse".  The  collection  contains  by 
J.  P.  Eameau:  Deux  Gigues  en  Rondeau,  Le  rappel  des  oiseaux,  L(is 
tendres  plaintes,  and  Deux  Menuets.  H.  M.  Schletterer  gives,  in  his 
"Classic  Clavier  Compositions  from  earlier  times",  12  pieces  by  Cou- 
perin, among  which  are  three  Preludes,  an  Allemande,  Marche,  Sara- 
bande (les  Sentiments),  and  La  Voluptueuse;  further  12  pieces  by 
Rameau,  as  Allemande,  Gigue,  Tambourin,  Rigaudon,  Sarabande,  Me- 
nuet,  and  the  humoresque  "La  Poule",  in  which  the  cry  of  a  cackling 
hen  is  imitated  and  worked  out. 

The  Earlier  German  Clavier  School. 

In  Germany,  as  in  Italy,  England,  and  France,  a  more  highly 
artistic  clavier  style  was  first  developed  from  a  cultivated  organ  style. 
The  clavier  merely  reproduced  the  compositions  intended  for  the  organ 
in  another  and  weaker  color;  not  until  these  compositions  had  gained 
a  more  dignified  form,  could  the  clavier  style  attain  to  an  independence 
corresponding  to  its  character  and  resources.  As  early  as  the  year 
1445  we  found  Bernhard  the  German  settled  in  Venice  as  the  organist 
of  San  Marco,  and  in  the  same  century  Conrad  Paulmann,  blind 
from  birth,  created  such  a  sensation  by  his  playing  on  the  organ 
and  other  instruments,  that  he  was  invited  to  the  courts  of  various 
princes,  and  rewarded  with  rich  presents.  A  manuscript  of  1452, 
described  and  elucidated  in  Vol.  2  of  Chrysander's  "Jahrbiicher  fur' 
musikalische  Wissenschaft",  bears  the  title:  "Fundamentum  organisandl' 
]\Iagistri  Conradi  Paumann's  (sic)  ceci  de  Nurenberga",  etc.  The 
examples  in  notes  therein  begin  with  two-part  contrapuntal  exercises 
to  a  cantus  firmus  in  the  bass,  which  ascends  and  descends  by  steps, 
or  by  thirds,  fourths,  fifths,  or  sixths.  Then  follow  two-part  examples 
of  closes  in  the  diatonic  keys  of  C-major,  D-minor  minus  h'?^  £'-minor 
minus  /"|;t,  JP'-major  minus  61?,  G-major  minus  fj;  in  the  signature,  and 
J.-minor.  Though  the  counterpoint  is  melodically  flowing,  these  and 
the  following  three-part  examples  are  tiresomely  monotonous,  and  full 
of  ill- sounding  parallel  fifths  and  octaves.  Paulmann  died  in  1473 
at  Munich;  in  the  parish   church   of  Unsere  liebe  Frau  (Our  blessed 


—     32     — 

Lady)  is  found  his  tombstone,  on  whicli  he  is  depicted  playing:  the 
organ,  with  the  following  inscription:  "x4.nno  MCCCCLXXIII  an 
St.  Paul  Bekehrungs  Abent,  ist  gestorben  uud  hie  begraben  der 
Kunstreichest  aller  Instrumenten  und  der  Musika  Maister  Conrad 
Paulmann,  Eitterbiirtig  von  Niirnberg  und  blinter  geboren"  etc.* 
According  to  this  the  name  given  in  the  title  of  the  above-mentioned 
manuscript,  Paiimann,  is  n  slip  of  the  pen,  which  has  been  copied 
by  modern  musical  writers. 

The  first  printed  work  designed  for  instrumental  music  appeared 
in  1512  at  Mayence  (Peter  Schoffer)  with  the  title:  "Tabulaturen 
etlicher  lobgesaug  vnd  lidlein  vif  die  orgeln  vn  lauten,  ein  theil  mit 
zweien  stimmen  zu  zwicken  vii  die  drit  dartzu  singe,  etlich  on  ge- 
sangk  mit  dreien,  vo  Arnold  Schlicken,  Pfaltzgrauischen  Churftirst- 
lichem  Organiste  Tabulirt  vn  in  den  truck  in  d'urspriTglichen  stat 
der  truckerei  zu  Meintz  wie  hie  nach  volgt  verordent"  etc.  In  1869 
Kobert  Eitner  republished  this  work  in  the  "Monatshefte  fiir  Musik- 
geschichte",  Vol  1.  It  contains  14  organ-pieces  in  three  parts,  some- 
times with  a  fourth  added,  and  a  number  of  tabulatures  for  the  lute. 
The  several  parts  occasionally  follow  in  imitation,  the  harmony  is 
purer  and  more  euphonious  than  with  Paulmann;  yet  the  highest  aim 
of  counterpoint  at  that  period  was  correctness  of  progression.  It  did 
not  take  on  life  and  warmth  until  the  Italian  vocal  and  instrumental 
music,  developing  in  animation  and  emotion  under  Willaert  and  the 
two  Gabrielis,  began  to  exert  a  salutary  influence  upon  German 
musical  art. 

Arnold  Schlick,  in  his  book  for  the  organ  and  lute,  did  not 
write  counterpoint  to  original  melodies,  but,  as  the  titles  of  the 
compositions  indicate,  always  to  sacred  or  profane  melodies  then  in 
vogue.  Neither  did  Paul  Hofhaimep  (d.  1537),  who  for  25  years 
was  court  organist  to  Kaiser  Maximilian  I.,  and  who  was  lauded  by 
his  contemporaries  as  a  most  eminent  composer,  organist,  and  music 
teacher,  leave  any  original  compositions  for  the  organ,  but  only  a 
few  vocal  piecus,  and  several  written  in  tabulature  for  the  favoi-j^ 
instrument  of  the  time,  the  lute. 

In  the  second  half  of  the  16  th  century,  the  clavier  already  outri- 
vals the  lute.  The  clavier  now  assumes,  beside  the  various  house- 
organs,  its  rightful  place  as  an  instrument  more  easily  constructed 
and  managed;    compositions  even  are  published   exclusively  for  the 


*  S.  Geri^er,  N.  Lex.,  under  Paulmann. 


—     33     — 

clnvier.  E.  g.  1560  in  Lyons,  by  S.  Gorlier:  "Premier  livre  de 
taljlature  d'Espinette,  Chansons,  Madrig'ales  et  Galliardes".  The  books 
of  Tabulatures  published  by  Ammerbach  in  1575  and  B.  Sehmid  in 
1577,  are  intended  for  "Organ  and  Instrument.  But  under  the 
latter  universal  term  was  understood  (in  Germany)  then,  as  at  times 
to-day,  a  Clavier  (now  Pianoforte)  in  particular.*  Ammerbach, 
organist  at  the  church  of  St.  Thomas  at  Leipzig,  gives,  in  his  "Orgel 
Oder  Instrument  Tabulatur",  no  compositions  of  his  own,  but  chorales 
set  in  4  parts,  secular  songs,  and  dance-tunes  accompanied  b}'  chords. 
The  German  dances  are  in  binary  time,  and  repeat  their  melody  in 
the  following  Afterdance  "Proportio"  in  livelier  ternary  time.  After 
several  Galliardes,  and  southern  Passamezzi  and  Saltarelli,  we  also 
come  upon  some  5-part  songs  arranged  for  keyed  instruments.  Neither 
do  the  "Zwei  Biicher  einer  neuen  ktinstlichen  Tabulatur  auff  Orgel 
und  Instrument"  by  Bernhard  Sehmid,  organist  at  Strassburg.  contain 
auy  original  compositions,  but  "selected  Motets  and  Pieces  in  6,  5, 
and  4  Parts,  taken  from  the  (works  of  the)  most  artful  and  world- 
renowned  Musicians  and  composers  of  this  our  time".  Like  his 
predecessor  Ammerbach,  Sehmid  followed  the  theoretical  rules  then 
obtaining;  their  counterpoint  is  flowing  and  melodious,  Avithout  pre- 
tending to  higher  claims,  and  the  German  and  foreign  dance-airs 
arranged  by  both  are  supported  by  simple  chords,  and  seldom  orna- 
mented by  passing  notes. 

The  German  masters  Heinrich  Isaac  and  Ludwig  Senfl  had  won 
renown,  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century,  by  their 
highly  artistic  vocal  works,  as  rivals  of  the  most  eminent  Dutch  and 
Italian  composers.  Toward  the  end  of  the  same  century  Germany, 
too,  could  show  independent  writers  of  instrumental  music,  the  first 
of  note  being  Hans  Leo  Hasler.  He  was  born  in  1564  in  Nurem- 
berg, and  displayed  early  such  a  marked  talent  for  music,  that  his 
father,  the  Nuremberg  town-musician  Isaac  Hasler.  decided  to  send 
him,  for  the  purpose  of  finishing  the  studies  begun  under  himself, 
to  Andrea  Gabrieli  of  Venice,  justly  celebrated  as  an  eminent  teacher 
of  music.  The  latter  was  able  at  the  end  of  but  one  year  to  dis- 
miss his  gifted  pupil,  who  was  immediately  engaged  as  oriranist  by 


*  S.  Prfetoriiis  Syntagma  Tom.  H,  of  the  year  1620,  cap.  37,  pag.  62. 
"A  Symphony  (and  likewise  a  Clavicymbalum,  Virginal,  Spinett)  is  commonly 
named  by  most,  without  distinction,  with  the  word  Instrument  (although 
very  wrongly)." 


3 


—     34     — 

a  member  of  tlie  art -loving  Fugger  family  of  Augsburg.  Here  be 
remained  till  tlie  year  1601,  wben  be  went  to  Vienna,  and  entered 
tbe  service  of  Kaiser  Eudolf  II.  Easier  won  universal  love  and 
respect,  and  tbe  Kaiser  sought  to  confer  a  special  mark  of  bis  favor 
upon  tbe  admired  artist  by  giving  bim  a  patent  of  nobility.  In  1608 
be  proceeded  to  tbe  court  of  Saxony,  and  accompanied  tbe  Elector 
to  Frankfort  on  tbe  Main,  wbere  be  died  in  tbe  year  1612.  Hans 
Leo  Easier  won  enduring  fame  not  only  as  an  organist,  but  still 
more  as  a  composer;  for  be  may  be  regarded  as  tbe  first  to  lay  tbe 
foundation  of  tbe  melodically  and  barmonically  developed  German 
style  of  composition,  wbicb  was  to  ripen  to  perfection  in  Sebastian 
Bacb.  Of  bis  numerous  compositions  we  mention  "Lustgarten  newer 
teutscber  Gesang,  Balletti,  Gailliarden,  vnd  Intraden  mit  4,  5,  6  vnd 
8  Stimmen"  (Pleasure -garden  of  new  German  Songs,  Ballets,  Gal- 
liardes,  and  Intradas  in  4 — 8  Parts);  Nuremberg,  Kauffmann,  1601. 
Tbe  first  two  parts  of  tbe  following  work  by  Jobann  Woltz  also 
contain  several  compositions  by  bim:  "Nova  Musices  Organicse  Tabv- 
latvra,  das  ist:  Ein  newe  art  teutscber  Tabulatur",  etc.  Basel,  Genatb, 
1617.  Tbe  sti-iving  to  develop  sucb  a  style,  suited  to  tbe  more 
serious  temper  and  earnest  spirit  of  tbe  Germans,  was  likewise 
exhibited  by  tbe  Augsburg  organist  Christian  Erbach,  tbe  Hamburg 
organist  Hleronymus  Pratorius  (Scliulz),  tbe  two  distinguisbed  com- 
posers Adam  Gumpelzhaimer  and  Melchior  Franck,  and  tbe  ingenious 
composer  and  organist  Samuel  Scheldt  (1587 — 1654)  of  Halle, — 
all  wortby  contemporaries  of  Hasler  and  sharers  of  bis  renown.  They 
flourished  from  about  1600  to  tbe  time  wben  the  outbreak  of  tbe 
fateful  30-years'  War  (1618  —  1648)  put  a  stop  for  long  to  tbe 
exercise  of  tbe  liberal  arts  in  Germany.  Still,  in  tbe  midst  of  this 
war,  there  appeared  in  1624  tbe  following  work  by  one  of  the  last- 
named  masters  in  Hamburg:  ''Tabulatura  nova,  contiuens  variationes 
aliquot  Psalmorum,  Fantasiarum,  Cantilenarum,  Passamezzo  et  Canones 
aliquot.  In  gratiam  Organ istarum  adornata  a  Samuele  Scheldt, 
Hallense,  etc.;  Pars  secunda  Tabulaturse,  continens  Fiigarum,  Psal- 
morum,  Cantionum  et  Echus,  Toccatse,  etc.  Variationes  varias  et 
omnimodas.     Pro  quorumvis  Organistarum  captu  et  modulo." 

Soon  after  tbe  re-establishment  of  peace  in  Germany,  tbe  Swedish 
ambassador  passed  through  Halle,  and  was  so  moved  by  the  clavier- 
playing  and  tbe  singing  of  tbe  young  Johann  Jakob  Froberger,  son 
of  a  cantor  in  that  place,  that  be  took  the  talented  boy  with  him 
to  Vienna,  to  present  bim  to  Kaiser  Ferdinand  III.    This  prince  took 


—     35     — 

him  under  his  protection,  and  sent  him  to  Rome,  to  be  educated  as 
a  musician  by  the  renowned  Frescobaldi.     In  three  years  Froberger 
finished  his  studies  with  this  distinguished  master,  and  proceeded  at 
first  to  Paris,  where  he  played  in  public  with  brilliant  success  as  the 
first  German  clavierist  of   eminence.     Hence  he  turned  to  Dresden, 
played  there  before  the  court  several  of  his  Toccatas,  Cappriccios, 
and  Ricercare,   and   presented   the  manuscript   of  the  same   to   the 
Elector,    who   sent   him  in   recompense  a  rich    golden    chain  and  a 
letter    to    the    Kaiser,    to    whom    he    then    returned.      The    latter 
received  his  protege,  now  a  finished  master,  with  marks  of  favor  of 
all   kinds,    and  appointed   him   his  Court  Organist.     Froberger,   the 
most  brilliant  clavier -player  and  learned  organist  of  his  time,  soon 
became  famous  throughout  Europe,  and  in  the  year  1662  he  deter- 
mined to  win  new  laurels  on  further  journeys.    He  therefore  obtained 
leave  of  absence  from  the  Kaiser,  proposing  to  go  to  England  via 
France.     But  in  France,  as  he  himself  narrates,  he  was  attacked  by 
robbers,  who  plundered  him  so  thoroughly  that  he  saved  but  a  few 
ducats  which  he  carried  next  his  skin,  and  reached  Calais  in  rags, 
where  he  took  ship  for  London.     The  gifted  artist  already  laughed 
at  his  misadventure,   when  the  ship  on  which  he  was  a  passenger, 
was  attacked  and  seized  by  pirates  not  far  from  the  English  coast. 
To  escape  capture,  Froberger  threw  himself  desperately  into  the  sea, 
and  being  a  skilful  swimmer,  gained  the  land.    Compassionate  fisher- 
men received  him  here,  and  gave  him  a  poor  suit  of  clothing,  in 
which  he  set  out  to  London,  begging  on  the  way.     A  stranger  and 
destitute  he  arrived  there,  and  roved  about  seeking  shelter.    He  thus 
came  to  Westminster  Abbey,   and  entered  the  sublime  cathedral  to 
offer   thanks    to    the    Lord   for   his   wonderful    deliverance    from   all 
danger.     The  last  organ -tones  die  away,  and  the  forsaken  one  still 
kneels  lost  in  prayer— until  a  harsh  voice  interrupts   his  devotions 
with   the   words:    "Friend,   it   is   time  to   leave!"— "You  seem  very 
unfortunate?"   asked  the  old  man  engaged  in  closing  the  doors.     "I 
am  indeed  no  child  of  Fortune",  answered  Froberger;   "robbers  and 
pirates  have  brought  me  to  such  a  pass,  that  I  neither  know  where 
to  find  food  nor  to  lay  my  head!"     "Aye,  if  one  might  believe  it!" 
replied  the  old  man;   "but  listen  to  me.     I  am  the  organist  of  this 
church  and  to  the  court;   if  you  will  serve  me  as  organ-blower,  I 
will  furnish  you  with  food  and  clothing."    Froberger,  filled  with  joy- 
ful hopes,  accepted  the  well-meant  proposition,  and  while  fulfilling 

his  humble  task  awaited  with  impatience  the  moment,  when,  without 

3* 


—    3b    — 

forfeiting  his  patron's  favor,  he  might  again  emerge  from  his  obscurity. 
Now  it  happened,  while  King  Charles  II.  was  celebrating  his  nuptials 
with  Catharine  of  Portugal,   that  Froberger  went  to   the  palace   to 
perform   his    humiliating    duty.      But,    dazzled   by   the   splendor    and 
magnificence   outspread  before   him,  and  quite  lost  in  reflection,    he 
forgot  to  blow  the  organ,   and  the  tones  suddenly  died  away  under 
the  organist's  fingers  in  the  midst  of  his  loftiest  strains.     The  unex- 
pected pause  occasioned  general  wonderment.    The  enraged  organist 
(Christopher„G-ibbons)  rushed  upon  Froberger,  overwhelmed  him  with 
abuse,    even    striking    him,    and  finally  withdrew    into   a  side-room. 
Froberger  now  seized  a  sudden  resolve;    he  filled  the  bellows  with 
wind,  and  then  sat  down  at  the  organ,  drawing  the  attention  of  all 
present  by  a  few  strikingly  dissonant  and  boldly  resolved  harmonies. 
One  of  the  court  ladies,  who  had  formerly  been  in  Vienna,   thought 
that  she  recognized  the  style  of  her  former  teacher,  Froberger,  in 
the  playing  of  the  new  organist  so  unexpectedly  appearing.    He  was 
immediately  sent  for,  fell  at  the  King's  feet,  and  in  a  few  words 
recounted  his  strange   adventures.     The  King  graciously  commanded 
him  to  rise;    a  harpsichord  was  brought,  and  for  over  an  hour  the 
entire    court   listened  to    the  fiery  improvisations    of  the   artist  who 
appeared,   in   such   miraculous  wise,   to  add   lustre    to   the  festival. 
Charles  IT.  rewarded  him  with  his  own  royal  neck-chain;    thencefor- 
ward he  was  the  hero   of  the  day  and  favorite  of  the  grandees  of 
the  realm.     Laden  with   costly  gifts,  Froberger  at  last  left  England 
to  return  to  the  Viennese  court.     But  here,   on  account  of  his  long 
absence  and  slanders  of  all  kinds,  he  had  fallen  into  such  disgrace, 
that  he  was  not  permitted  to   approach  the  Emperor's  throne.     Dis- 
tressed   and    angered   at   this,    he   sought   his  dismissal,    which  was 
granted   immediately,    though    couched    in    the  most  flattering  terms. 
He  then  went  to  Mayence,  where,  though  in  outward  prosperity,  yet 
dissatisfied  with  himself  and  all  the  world,  he  led  a  sad  life,  and 
died  in  1G95  at  the  age  of  sixty.     Of  his  compositions,  excepting  a 
Fantasia  for  the  harpsichord   printed  in  Kircher's  Musurgia  (Rome, 
1650,  pag.  466  etc.)  in  four-part  score,  only  the  following  have  been 
published:    "Diverse  curiose  e  rarissime  partite  di  toccate,  ricercate 
capricci    e    fantasic    dall'   Eccellentissimo    e    Famosissimo    organista 
Giovanni  Giacomo  Froberger,  per  gli  amatori  di  Cimbali,   Organi  e 
Instrumenti".    Mayence,  Burgeat,  1695;   and  a  second,  similar  collec- 
tion, same  pul)l.,   1714.     Mattheson,  in  his  Critica  Musica,  pag.  103, 
Note,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  youthful  humor  of  this  first 


—     37     — 

German  elavier-virtuoso:  "I  possess  an  Allemaude,  bv  the  formerly 
celebrated  Froberger,  intended  to  depict  Ms  perilous  voyage  on  the 
Rhine,  Therein  is  represented,  how  one  person  hands  the  boatman 
his  sword,  and  falls  thereby  into  the  water;  there  are  26  special 
notes,  among"  them  being  a  casus  Avliere  the  boatman  gives  the  suflferer 
a  shocking  blow  Avith  his  long  pole,  etc." 

Yet  more  eminent  as  an  organist  and  composer  appears  Froberger's 
countryman  and  contemporary  Johann  Kaspar  Kerl.  He  was  also 
sent  to  Rome  by  Kaiser  Ferdinand  III.,  to  be  instructed  in  music  by 
the  excellent  composer  Giacomo  Carissimi;  and  when  the  following 
Kaiser  Leopold  was  to  be  crowned  at  Frankfort  in  1658,  he  went 
thither  to  be  presented  to  the  new  sovereign.  The  latter  received 
him  graciously,  and  sent  him  a  theme,  which  be  desired  to  hear  worked 
out  on  the  organ  next  day.  Kerl  declined  it  with  the  petition,  that 
a  theme  should  not  be  handed  him  until  he  was  already  seated 
before  the  organ.  When  the  Kaiser  and  the  illustrious  guests  at  the 
coronation  were  gathered  in  the  church  at  the  time  appointed.  Kas- 
par Kerl  began  with  a  majestic  prelude  on  the  organ,  then  took  up 
the  given  theme,  worked  it  out  in  two  parts,  then  in  three  and  four, 
and  finally  with  the  pedal  in  five  parts,  adding  thereto,  to  the  great 
admiration  of  all  hearers,  a  counter -subject,  and  closing  the  whole 
with  a  grand  and  masterly  double -fugue.  Following  this,  he  had 
performed  an  artistically  wrought  Mass  of  his  own  composition,  after 
which  he  received  an  ovation  from  the  entire  assemblage.  The  Kaiser 
ennobled  him,  and  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  appointed  him  his  Kapell- 
meister. He  occupied  this  post  in  Munich  for  several  years,  until, 
disgusted  at  the  continual  cabals  of  the  Italian  singers  engaged  at 
the  same  court,  he  quitted  the  town,  and  accepted  the  jiosition  of 
organist  at  the  Church  of  St.  Stephen  in  Vienna,  1(577,  where  he  was 
also  held  in  high  estimation  as  a  clavier -teacher.  He  returned  to 
Munich  later,  and  died  there  about  1690.  His  compositions,  "Modulatio 
organica  super  jMagnificat,  octo  tonis  ecclesiasticis  respondens",  Munich, 
1686,  and  many  others,  although  still  based  upon  the  ecclesiastical 
modes,  exhibit  all  the  characteristics  of  our  modern  tonalities,  and 
approach  more  and  more  to  the  German  style,  as  distinguished  from 
the  Italian, 

At  the  time  of  Kaspar  Kerl's  sojourn  in  Vienna,  the  talented 
Johann  Pachelbel  of  Nuremberg,  born  in  1653,  was  the  assistant 
organist  at  St.  Stephen's.  In  his  chief  he  had  likewise  such  an  ex- 
cellent model,  that  he  also  succeeded,  through  untiring  zeal,  in  win- 

303128 


—     38     — 

ning  an  honorable  name  as  a  player  on  the  clavier  and  organ.  He 
was  engaged  successively  as  organist  in  Eisenach,  Erfurt,  Stuttgart, 
and  Gotha,  and  finally  in  the  church  of  St.  Sehaldus  at  Nuremberg 
(1695).  Here  he  died  in  1706,  attempting  to  sing  in  his  last  moments, 
with  faltering  breath,  his  favorite  chorale  "HeiT  Jesu  Christ,  meines 
Lebens  Licht".  Of  his  published  compositions  we  mention  "Musika- 
lische  Sterbens-Gedanken  aus  vier  variirten  Choralen  bestehend"  (Musi- 
cal Dying  Thoughts,  consisting  of  four  Chorales  with  variations),  Er- 
furt, 1683;  "Chorale  zum  Praambuliren"  (Chorales  for  Preluding), 
Nuremberg,  1693;  and  "Hexachordum  ApoUinis,  aus  VI  sechsmal  vari- 
irten Arien"  (Apollo's  Hexachord,  in  6  Arias  with  sixfold  variation), 
Nuremberg,  1699.  Pachelbel's  name  especially  deserves  to  be  linked 
with  that  of  Froberger  as  a  composts  able  to  arouse  and  promote, 
in  Germany,  the  universal  love  for  the  clavier  by  means  of  works 
more  pleasing  and  better  suited  in  style  for  this  instrument,  in  parti- 
cular by  his  artistic  variations.  Most  of  his  compositions,  however, 
like  those  of  his  older  and  younger  contemporaries,  were  never 
printed,  but  were  spread  far  and  wide,  within  and  without  Germany, 
in  innumerable  manuscript  copies. 

Georg  Muffat,  Kapellmeister  to  the  Prince  of  Passau,  has  still 
to  be  mentioned  as  an  excellent  organist,  clavier-player,  and  com- 
poser toAvard  the  end  of  the  17th  century.  However,  of  his  composi- 
tions relevant  to  our  subject,  but  one  has  been  printed — an  "Appara- 
tus Musico-Organisticus"  containing  12  Toccatas,  in  Augsburg,  1690, 
in  which  place  he  had  played  before  Kaiser  Leopold  I.  in  the  same 
year.  In  his  youth  he  dwelt  six  years  in  Paris,  in  order  to  study 
the  then  epoch-making  compositions  of  LuUy.  There  he  could  not 
fail  to  become  acquainted  with  the  works  of  the  above-mentioned 
Couperin,  and  thus  transplanted  many  of  the  agremens  of  the  latter 
to  Germany.  Gottlieb  Muffat,  his  highly  gifted  son,  studied  counter- 
point thoroughly  in  Vienna  under  J.  J.  Fux,  became  Court  Organist 
to  Kaiser  Karl  VI.,  and  clavier  teacher  in  the  imperial  family.  There 
were  published  in  Vienna,  1727,  of  his  clavier  compositions:  "Com- 
ponimenti  musicali  per  il  Cembalo",  and  later  LXXII  Versettes  and 
XII  Toccatas.     He  left  many  equally  valuable  compositions  in  MS. 

Under  the  domination  of  the  Chromaticists,  which  had  been  con- 
tinually gaining  ground  since  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century,  the 
pure  diatonic  Modes  had  been  so  altered  and  popularized  by  addea 
chromatic  tones  quite  foreign  to  their  serious  character,  that  they 
were  present  in  the   works  of  the  17th  century  only  in  name,   and 


—     39     — 

not  in  their  essential  power.  Thus  even  theoreticians  were  finally 
forced  to  take  note  of  the  Keys  of  the  "New  Music",  so  entirely 
different  from  the  old.  And  thus  Dr.  Conrad  Matthai  (in  his  paper 
published  in  1652  "by  favor  of  the  honorable  philosophical  Faculty 
of  the  Electoral  University  at  Konigsberg",  and  entitled  "A  brief, 
though  detailed  Eeport  on  the  Modis  musicis"  etc.)  declares  the  Ionian 
Mode,  our  modern  key  of  (7-major,  which  until  then  had  been  termed 
merely  an  irregular  key,  to  be  the  first  and  pre-eminent  one.  The 
organist  Andreas  Werckmeister  of  Halberstadt,  a  most  deserving 
theoretician  of  this  period,  has  a  still  more  distinct  conception  of  the 
tonality  of  his  time.  In  his  essay,  printed  at  Aschersleben  in  1698 
(the  edition  before  me  is  undated),  on  "Die  nothwendigsten  Anmerk- 
ungen  und  Eegelu,  wie  der  Bassus  continuus  oder  General-Bass  wohl 
konne  tractiret  werden"  (The  most  needful  Eemarks  and  Eules  for 
the  Treatment  of  the  Basso  continuo  or  Thorough-bass)  he  observes 
(p.  50):  "/w  our  present  (style  of)  composition  one  could  get  along 
very  well  ivifJi  two  modes,  if  the  same  were  applied  to  the  tempered 
clavier,  and  then  to  each  key  were  tuned  one  mode,  namely  major 
for  all,  and  then  to  each  another  mode,  namely  minor  for  all;  where- 
upon one  would  have  24  triades  harmonicas,  and  the  clavier  could 
be  played  through  the  circle  [of  fourths  or  fifths]:  as  was  observed 
above".  —  And  by  Mattheson,  in  his  "Beschiitzten  Orchestre"  (Ham- 
burg, 1717),  Solmisation  was  finally  "carried  to  the  grave,  under 
distinguished  escort  of  the  twelve  Grecian  modorum,  as  respectable 
relatives  and  mourners".  In  the  compositions  of  the  now  beginning 
brilliant  epoch  of  this  earlier  German  organ  and  clavier  school,  our 
modern  keys  therefore  already  display  themselves  clearly  and  distinctly, 
with  their  definite  leading -note;  these  works  still  show  the  serious 
dignity  of  those  founded  on  the  ecclesiastical  modes,  but  are  now 
also  able  to  lend  animated  expression  to  the  more  sensuous  emotions 
of  the  heart  and  the  more  agitated  moods,  by  the  aid  of  their 
richer  modulations  and  the  prepared  and  free  dissonances  oftener 
occurring. 

Through  the  numerous  pupils  of  the  German  masters  already 
mentioned,  and  by  their  meritorious  compositions,  which  always  spread 
over  the  entire  musical  world  in  thousands  of  copies,  our  art,  which 
at  first  had  found  its  chief  fosterers  in  the  South,  was  in  time  trans- 
planted to  the  North  of  Germany  as  well.  Here  Dietrich  Buxtehude, 
organist  at  the  Marienkirche  in  Ltibeck  from  1699  to  his  death  in 
1707,  won  so  brilliant  renown  through  his  spirited  and  effective  per- 


—     40     — 

formances,  that  Sebastian  Bach,  at  nineteen  (1704)  organist  in  Am- 
stadt,  felt  impelled  to  journey  several  times  to  Liibeck  on  foot,  to 
hear  the  masterly  playing  of  Buxtehude  and  to  study  his  ingeni'ius 
compositions  for  an  extended  period.  For  tliough  the  liberal  arts, 
after  the  frightful  devastation  of  the  30-years'  war,  again  began  to 
put  forth  glorious  blooms  in  Germany,  the  general  commercial  depres- 
sion was  especially  felt  in  the  music  trade  throughout  the  whole 
17th  century,  so  that  extremely  few  of  his  many  fine  works,  or 
of  his  contemporaries',  became  generally  known  through  publication. 
Gerber,  in  his  "Neues  Lexikon  der  Tonkiiustler"  (New  Lexicon  of 
Musicians),  notes  only  the  following  works  by  Buxtehude  pertinent 
to  our  subject:  "Opera  1,  a  V.,  Viola  da  gamba  e  Cembalo",  Ham- 
burg; "Opera  2",  a  similar  Clavier  Trio,  Hamburg,  1696;  and  "VII 
Clavier  Suites,  w^herein  the  Nature  and  Properties  of  the  7  Plaae|s_ 
are  depicted".  When  Buxtehude,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  pro- 
posed giving  up  his  position  as  organist,  the  place  was  applied  for 
by  two  young  musicians  and  friends,  Handel  and  Mattheson,  who 
came  to  Liibeck  for  this  purpose  from  the  city  of  Hamburg  near  by. 
Now,  although  these  already  highly  esteemed  artists  might  assuredly 
have  urged  well-founded  claims  to  this  generously  salaried  ofiice, 
they  nevertheless  beat  a  hurried  retreat  upon  learning  that  Buxtehude 
was  willing  to  resign  the  same  only  in  favor  of  a  candidate,  who 
should  first  agree  to  espouse  a  daughter  of  his,  no  longer  in  the  first 
flush  of  youth. 

The  above-mentioned  George  Frederick  Handel  (properly  Georg 
Friedrich  Handel), ^born  in  Halle,  in  168_5  and  educated  as  a  musician 
by  the  notable  organist  Friedrich  Willielm  Zachau  (d.  1712), 
not  only  lifted  the  protestant  Oratorio  to  world-wide  fame  of  yet 
undimmcd  lustre,  but  was  surpassed,  both  in  his  fiery  organ- playing 
and  in  his  artistic  and  elegnnt  clavier  compositions,  by  Sebastian 
Bach  alone,  the  greatest  of  all  masters  of  that  classic  epoch.  Handel 
spent  the  last  forty- seven  years  of  his  restlessly  active  life  almost 
without  interruption  in  London;  he  it  was,  therefore,  who  carried  the 
German  style  of  composition  of  that  period  to  England,  and  there 
his  memory  is  still  celebrated  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  He  died 
in  that  commercial  metropolis  in  1759,  and  his  eighteen  organ  Con- 
certos, which  however  do  not  stand  in  so  high  esteem  as  his  other 
works,  like  his  remaining  organ  and  clavier  compositions,  were  first 
published  in  England,  and  thereafter  in  France,  Germany,  and  Switzer- 
land.    Among  the  editions  of  the  same  issued  latterly,  the  following 


—     41     — 

are  specially  noteworthy:  "Handel's  Clavierstticke"  (Clavier  Pieces)  in 
No.  2,  V.  1  of  the  Deutsche  HandelsgeseUschaft,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel,  1858;  16  Suites,  12  Fugues,  and  other  compositions,  in  one 
volume  or  separate,  H.  Litolfif,  Braunschweig  (Brunswick);  "Composi- 
tions de  G.  F,  Handel,  edit,  nouvelle,  revue  et  corrigee  critiquement". 
8  Parts,  Leipzig,  Peters. 

Handel's  Clavier  Suites  sometimes  contain,  instead  of  the  series 
of  dance-forms  usually  found  in  similar  compositions,  other  fugued 
and  freer  pieces,  and  so-called  "galante"  variations,  in  which  the 
endeavor,  to  create  pleasing  and  hrilliant  pieces  especially  for  the 
clavier,  is  distinctly  apparent;  yet  in  artistic  workmanship,  power, 
and  loftier  flights,  they  rank  decidedly  below  the  fine  Suites  by 
Sebastian  Bach;  and  even  in  his  pui'ely  and  fluently  wrought  Fugues 
he  can  hardly  bear  comparison,  in  this  province,  with  his  great  rival 
in  renown.^ 

Joliann  IVIattheson,  named  together  with  Handel,  chiefly  owes 
his  celebrity  to  his  theoretical,  critical,  and  musico-historical  writings. 
Of  his  compositions  were  published:  "XII  Suites  pour  le  Clavecin", 
London,  1714;  a  "Sonata  per  il  Cembalo",  Hamburg;  and  a  volume 
of  Fugues,  in  two  Parts,  entitled  "Die  Fiugersprache"  (Finger-speech). 

We  now  come  to  the  renowned  contemporary  of  Handel,  Do- 
minico  Scarlatti,  and  Rameau,  who  in  all  future  time  will  be  deemed 
a  model  for  the  classic  organ  and  clavier  style  and  for  most  artistic 
composition  —  to  the  perfecter  of  the  art  of  Counterpoint,  Johann 
Sebastian  Bach.  He  was  born  in  Eisenach  on  May  16,  1685,  lost 
his  parents  when  but  ten  years  of  age,  and  therefore  was  taken  in 
charge  by  his  elder  brother  Johann  Christoph,  organist  in  OrdrufiF,  to 
be  instructed  by  him  in  clavier -playing.  Herein  he  soon  acquired 
such  skill,  that  he  begged  to  be  allowed  to  study  a  book  of  music 
belonging  to  his  brother,  which  contained  written  copies  of  a  large 
number  of  clavier-pieces  by  Froberger,  Kerl,  and  Pachelbel.  But  as 
his  brother  denied  his  urgent  entreaty,  he  secretly  carried  the  coveted 
treasure  to  his  chamber  at  night,  and  not  only  copied  the  clavier 
pieces  by  moonlight  in  six  months,  but  studied  them  with  equal 
secrecy  and  untiring  zeal.  His  brother,  however,  having  once  over- 
heard this  secret  practice  to  his  no  small  astonishment,  cruelly  took 
awa}-  the  copies  so  laboriously  made;  nor  were  they  restored  until 
after  the  latter's  death,  which  occurred  shortly  after.  Sebastian  Bach 
then  went  with  a  friend  to  Ltineburg,  where  both  were  placed  as 
choir-boys  in  the  church  of  St.  Michael,  likewise  attending  the  gym- 


—     42     — 

nasium  of  tlie  town.  Hence  Sebastian  undertook  frequent  trips  to 
Hamburg,  to  listen  to  the  playing  of  the  eminent  organist  Johann 
Adam  Reinken  (1623—1722).  In  his  eighteenth  year  he  obtained  a 
position  as  violinist  in  the  court  band  at  Weimar,  but  exchanged  it 
in  the  following  year  for  the  post  of  organist  in  Arnstadt,  better 
suited  to  his  taste.  It  was  here  that  he  entirely  devoted  himself  to 
the  theoretical  and  practical  study  of  the  compositions  of  Nieolaus 
Bruhn  (1666  —  1697),  Reinken,  Buxtehude,  and  other  German  masters; 
his  study  and  practice,  continued  with  the  utmost  diligence,  united 
with  his  most  delicate  native  musical  sensibility  and  inexhaustible 
inventive  faculty,  soon  raised  him  to  such  a  degree  of  mastership, 
that  when  he  was  appointed  organist  of  the  court  at  Weimar,  in  1708, 
both  his  finished  playing  and  ingenious  compositions  found  universal 
recognition  in  that  town.  Innumerable  organ  pieces  were  called  forth 
here  by  the  art-loving  court,  and  in  the  year  1714  the  Duke  ap- 
pointed the  productive  Sebastian  Kapellmeister,  as  which  he  now  had 
to  write  and  to  conduct  the  larger  compositions  intended  for  the  church. 
Shortly  after  the  victory  already  mentioned  over  the  then  so  highly 
extolled  French  organist  Marchand,  in  the  year  1717,  Bach  was  cal- 
led to  Anhalt-Kothen  as  Court  Kapellmeister.  Here  he  stayed  for 
six  years,  during  which  time  he  made  a  second  trip  to  Hamburg  to 
visit  the  organist  Reinken,  the  model  of  his  youthful  ambition.  Reinken, 
then  in  his  hundredth  year,  accompanied  Sebastian  to  the  church  of 
St.  Catharine,  to  hear  the  playing  of  his  disciple  returning  to  him 
covered  with  glory.  Bach  seated  himself  at  the  organ,  and  impro- 
vised for  nearly  two  hours  on  the  favorite  chorale  of  the  aged  master, 
"An  Wasserfliissen  Babylons,  da  sasscu  wir  und  weinten",  with  such 
skill  and  feeling  that  the  latter,  deeply  moved,  cried  out:  "I  had 
thought  that  this  art  would  be  buried  with  me,  but  now  I  hear  that 
it  will  live  on!" — In  1723  Bach  was  called  to  Leipzig  as  Cantor  of 
the  Thomasschule,  and  held  this  position  till  his  death  in  1750.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  at  Leipzig,  the  Duke  of  Weissenfels  bestowed  upon 
him  the  title  of  Kapellmeister,  the  King  of  Saxony  appointed  him 
Court  Composer,  and  the  far-sounding  name  of  this  unexcelled  musi- 
cian attracted  many  pupils  and  admirers  to  the  town.  Sebastian  Bach 
was  revered  not  only  as  an  artist,  but  also  as  a  true  friend  and 
faithful,  affectionate  husband.  He  left  nine  daughters,  and  eleven 
sons  gifted  with  the  happiest  musical  talent,  among  whom  are  to  be 
named,  as  conspicuously  eminent,  first  of  all  the  eldest,  Wilhelm 
Friedemann,  also  called  the  "Hallische  Bach"  (Bach  of  Halle,  171U — 


—     43     — 

1784);  likewise  the  second,  Karl  Philipp  Emanuel,  the  Berlin  or 
Hamburg  Bach,  (1714—1788);  further,  Johann  Christoph  Friedrich, 
Concertmeister  at  Buckeburg;  and  the  youngest,  Johann  Christian  the 
Milanese  or  London  Bach.  After  his  second  son,  Philipp  Emanuel, 
had  entered  the  service  of  Frederick  the  Great,  the  monarch  repeat- 
edly expressed  the  wish  to  become  personally  acquainted  with  Sebas- 
tian, the  father.  The  latter  finally  acceded  to  the  urgent  invitation 
of  his  son,  and  in  the  year  174Z_j^5^Z.®<^^  *^  Potsdam  with  his, 
most  dearly  loved  eldest  son  Wilhelm  Friedemann.  The  King  had 
just  arranged  a  concert  in  his  palace,  and  was  about  to  begin  play- 
ing a  composition  for  the  flute,  when  an  officer  entered,  and  handed 
him  a  list  of  the  strangers  arrived  at  Potsdam.  Scarcely  had  he 
«ast  a  glance  over  the  list,  when  he  turned  to  the  assembled  musi- 
cians, and  cried:  "Grentlemen,  old  Bach  has  come!"  He  laid  the  flute 
aside,  and  gave  orders  that  the  long  looked-for  master  should  be 
brought  thither  immediately.  Sebastian,  who  had  not  been  allowed 
time  to  doff  his  travelling  dress,  soon  appeared,  and  the  King  affably 
requested  him  to  try  the  lately  invented  Fortepiano,  made  by  Silber- 
mann,  in  his  concert  room  (the  Berlin  "Haude  und  Spener'sche  Zei- 
tung"  of  May  of  that  year  styles  it  "the  so-called  Forte  and  Piano"). 
Bach  improvised  for  some  time  on  the  same,  and  finally  begged 
Frederick  the  Great  for  a  fugue -theme,  and  wrought  it  out  on  the 
spot  in  such  masterly  fashion,  that  the  musicians  surrounding  ap- 
plauded him  most  loudly.  After  his  return  to  Leipzig,  Bach  dedicated 
to  the  King  a  work  entitled  "Musikalisches  Opfer"  (A  Musical  Offer- 
ing, Breitkopf  &  Hartel),  in  which  he  treats  this  theme  by  Frederick 
the  Great  in  the  most  various  styles,  developing  in  a  masterly  manner 
most  ingenious  canons,  a  three -part  fugue,  a  six-part  ricercare,  and 
a  sonata  for  flute,  violin,  and  basso  continue,  ^ach^^an  enthusiast 
for  everything  grand  and  beautiful,  was_not  permilted  to  make  the 
personal  acquaintance  of  his  illustrious  contemporary  Handel.  On 
hearing  that  the  latter  had  come  from  England  to  Halle,  he  im- 
mediately journeyed  thither,  but  learned  to  his  sorrow  that  Handel 
had  already  left  his  birth-place  again  on  the  same  day.  When  he 
revisited  Germany  for  the  second  time,  Bach  was  sick  in  bed;  in- 
deed, the  trip  to  Potsdam  was  likewise  his  last  excursion  from 
Leipzig.  Oft-continued  night- work,  coupled  with  the  necessity  of 
engraving  his  compositions  himself  on  copper,  aided  by  his  son 
Friedemann,  in  order  to  secure  their  publication  despite  the  lack  of 
a  publisher,  told  on  his  eyesight  for  several  years,  and  finished  by 


—     44     — 

totally  blinding  liim.  This  wonderful  musician,  who  possessed  in  so 
high  measure  the  gift  of  clothing  his  inexhaustible,  profound  thoughts 
at  pleasure  in  the  choicest  and  most  artistic  forms,  died  in  the  year 
1750.  With  Sebastian  Bach  the  classic  organ  and  clavier  style  at- 
tained to  its  supreme  height,  and  contrapuntal  composition  to  its 
fullest  perfection. 

The  instruments  already  spoken  of,  made  by  Gottfried  SilbeP- 
mann  under  the  name  of  Fortepiano,  were  wing-shaped  (in  grand- 
piano  form).  C.  E.  Friederici  of  Gera,  the  first  to  employ  the  square 
form  (1758),  called  his  instrument,  to  distinguish  it  from  that  of  Silber- 
mann,  Fortebien.  According  to  Gerber,  in  the  old  Lexikon  der  Ton- 
Jcilnstler  (1792),  Silbermann  made  two  instruments  during  Bach's  life- 
time, and  the  latter,  having  tried  one  of  them,  praised  its  tone,  but 
found  the  treble  too  weak  and  the  touch  altogether  too  heavy.  Silber- 
mann thereupon  offered  no  more  of  these  instruments  for  sale,  and 
labored  incessantly  to  improve  the  defects  censured  by  Bach.  Thus 
'•many  years"  passed  by,  without  further  news  of  the  invention.  At 
last,  after  manifold  experiments,  he  so  far  improved  the  touch,  that 
he  was  able  to  sell  one  of  his  instruments  to  the  Prince  of  Schwarz-  \\ 
burg-Eudolstadt,  and  a  second  in  a  short  time  to  the  King  of  Prussia. 
Silbermann  now  had  one  of  these  new,  improved  instruments  tested 
by  Bach,  who  then  approved  of  the  same  in  all  respects.  But  all 
the  clavier  compositions  of  Sebastian  Bach,  most  of  which  were  not 
published  till  after  his  death,  as  well  as  those  of  his  son  Karl  Philipp 
Emanuel,  still  belong  to  tJie  literature  of  the  Clavichord. 

In  view  of  the  totally  different  methods  for  tuning  the  clavier, 
after  abandoning  the  ecclesiastical  modes,  our  modern  keys  could  not 
all  be  used  with  even  measurably  bearable  purity.  To  attain  this 
end,  they  were  finally  (from  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century) 
founded  on  the  system  of  equal  temperament,  which  latter  obtained 
full  recognition  more  especially  from  the  fact,  that  Sebastian  Bach  "v 
wrote  a  series  of  24  Preludes  and  an  equal  number  of  Fugues,  fol- 
lowed later  by  a  second  similar  collection,  for  the  first  time  in  all 
our  modern  major  and  minor  keys,  and  gave  it  the  title  of  ''The 
Well-tempered  Clavichord",  although  both  parts  were  not  printed  for 
publication  under  the  same  until  after  his  death.  They  were  first 
announced  in  the  year  X.800_by  N.  Simrock  of  Bonn  and  G.  Nageli 
of  Zurich;  according  to  the  Leipzig  "Handbuch  der  musikalischen 
Literatur"  of  1817  they  had  up  to  that  date  been  issued  complete  by 
the  above  publishers,  and  also  by  Peters  in  Leipzig  and  Sieber  in 


—    45     — 

Paris  (none  of  these  editions  mentioning,  however,  the  manuscripts 
followed).  Franz  Kroll,  well-known  as  an  excellent  and  thoroughly 
educated  musician,  has  rendered  art  the  service  of  comparing  all 
autographs  and  other  contemporary  manuscript  copies  still  extant  of 
the  Well-tempered  Clavichord,  and  likewise  the  earliest  printed  editions, 
and  has  published  the  result  of  his  investigations  in  a  critical  edition 
of  this  highly  important  clavier-work  (Leipzig,  C.  F.  Peters). 

The  same  active  firm  has  also  published  a  "Gesammtausgabe" 
(Complete  Edition)  of  the  works  of  Johann  Sebastian  Bach,  which 
contains  the  following  clavier- works:  Parts  I  and  II,  the  Well-tem- 
pered Clavichord;  III,  Art  of  Fugue,  with  explanations  by  M.  Haupt- 
mann;  IV  and  IX,  Preludes,  Toccatas,  Fantasias,  and  Fugues;  V,  six 
Clavier-exercises  or  Suites;  Op  1;  VI,  Italian  Concerto,  French  Over- 
ture, and  Aria  con  30  Variazioni;  VII,  The  six  French  Suites,  and 
other  minor  compositions;  VIII,  the  six  great  English  Suites;  X,  six 
Grand  Sonatas  for  Clavier  and  Violin;  XI  and  XIV,  Concertos  for 
three  Claviers  with  accompaniment  of  String  Quartet,  in  2)-minor  and 
C-major;  XII  and  XIII,  Concertos  for  two  Claviers  with  String 
Quartet,  in  C-major  and  C-minor;  XV,  16  Violin  Concertos  by  A.  Vi- 
valdi, arr.  by  Bach  for  Clavier;  XIV,  Concerto  for  Clavier  and  two 
Flutes  with  String  Quartet,  in  i^- major;  XVII  to  II,  Clavier  Con- 
certos with  String  Quartet,  in  G-minor,  JF-minor,  D-  and  J.-major, 
jE^  major,  and  D-minor;  XXIII,  Concerto  for  Clavier,  Flute  and  Violin, 
with  String  Quartet.  A  "Collection  of  the  Clavier  Compositions  of 
J,  S.  Bach"  has  also  been  issued,  in  four  volumes,  by  L.  Holle,  Wolfen- 
btittel.  The  edition  of  the  Bach-Gesellschaft  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel) 
contains  Clavier  works  by  Bach  in  Vol.  3,  9,  13  (second  Part),  14, 
15,  17,  and  21  (second  Part).  The  same  publishers  have  issued 
'•Clavier  Works  of  J.  S.  Bach,  furnished  with  Fingering  and  Marks 
of  Expression,  for  Use  in  the  Conservatory  at  Leipzig  by  Carl  Eei- 
necke".  7  Volumes,  boards,  red.  The  "Collection  Litolflf"  contains 
Bach's  Clavier  Works  in  two  volumes,  or  in  41  separate  numbers. 

Bach's  Concertos  and  Sonatas  exhibit  only  in  isolated  cases 
the  combination,  at  present  in  vogue,  of  a  more  fully  developed 
movement  in  the  "sonata-form"  before  described,  with  a  calmer 
Andante  following  and  a  Finale  in  "rondo-form";  they  are,  on  the 
contrary,  either  two,  three,  four,  or  even  more  distinct  pieces,  of 
which  only  the  first,  and  occasionally  the  last,  is  worked  out  with 
broader  development,  but  which  are  united  to  a  greater  Whole  by 
similarity  or  relationship  in  key,  by  their  mutual  resemblance  in  mood 


—     46     — 

or  style;  so  that  the  so-called  Suites  are  distinguished  from  such 
Sonatas  only  through  the  circumstance,  that  in  the  same  distinct 
dance-forms— though  sometimes  worked  out  in  sonata-form— like  the 
Allemande,  Corrente,  Sarabaude,  Giga,  etc.,  often  preceded  by  way  of 
introduction  by  an  Overture,  Prelude,  or  Capriccio,  are  united  in  a 
similar  manner  to  form  a  whole.  Thus  the  great  "English  Suites" 
by  Bach  possess  no  less  musical  worth  than  his  "Sonatas  for  Clavier 
and  Violin",  developed  with  such  consummate  skill,  or  than  his  va- 
luable Clavier  Concertos.  Neither  in  the  ti'uly  monumental  work: 
"Aria  con  30  Variationi",  nor  in  any  of  his  compositions,  does  Bach 
appear  merely  as  a  most  facile  contrapuntist,  by  his  employment  of 
the  varied  principal  theme  for  canons  in  all  intervals  and  other  fugal 
work,  but  also  gives  the  player  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  his  vir- 
tuosity in  an  extremely  effective  style.  But  it  is  the  form  of  the 
fugue,  more  especially,  which  attained  to  highest  and  final  perfection 
through  Bach's  master-hand.  Their  subjects  always  contain  a  distinctly 
outspoken  musical  idea,  whose  character  is  maintained  throughout 
the  entire  composition.  And  not  only  in  the  ever-new  melodic  and 
rhythmic  pregnancy  of  the  themes,  but  in  the  diversified  development 
of  the  same,  does  Bach  display  the  full  wealth  of  his  astounding  in- 
ventive genius.  All  his  numerous  fugues  show,  together  with  the 
strictest  unity  of  conception,  the  greatest  diversity  in  their  modu- 
lations, episodes,  developments,  and  stretti.  The  theme  now  appears 
in  melodic  contrary  motion,  now  in  augmentation,  and  enters  in 
canon-form  or  the  most  amazing  sti'etti  in  all  parts  carrying  out  the 
fugue.  In  the  Well-tempered  Clavichord  we  find  fugues  in  2,  3,  4, 
and  5  parts,  among  them  several  worked  out  as  double  or  triple 
fugues. 

Bach  was  the  first  to  develop  the  entire  build  of  a  fugue  out  of 
its  subject  and  counter-subject  and  the  motives  derived  from  them, 
\  (      and  produced  thereby  the  fullest  unity  in  its  organic  form. 

For  the  performance  of  his  oftentimes  very  complicated  works, 
whose  individual  parts  preserve  their  entire  independence,  the  fingering 
till  then  customary  for  keyed  instruments  no  longer  sufficed;  he  there- 
fore invented  a  new  one,  in  which  the  hitherto  quite  neglected  thumbs 
and  little  fingers  of  both  hands  could  co-operate  as  required,  and 
the  key  of  a  sustained  tone  was  frequently  held  down  not  only  by 
one  finger,  but  by  several  in  alternation.  Bach  executed  the  most 
difficult  of  his  own  compositions  with  the  utmost  ease  and  delicacy, 
and  usually  in  very  lively  tempo;  for  practicing  the  same  he  often 


—     47     — 

worked  during  the  night.  His  organ-playing  was  as  finished  as  his 
clavier  style,  his  feet  even  imitating  any  appoggiatura,  mordent,  or 
other  grace  played  by  the  fingers;  he  actually  executed  long  double 
trills  on  the  pedals,  while  both  hands  were  also  fully  employed.  He 
is  said  to  have  used  and  combined  the  organ-registers,  too,  so  in- 
geniously, that  a  very  ordinary  instrument,  under  his  hands,  could 
exercise  a  most  potent  influence  over  the  hearers.  But  Sebastian 
Bach  not  only  promoted,  by  his  compositions  and  his  performances 
at  Hamburg,  Weimar,  Dresden,  Anhalt-Kothen,  Leipzig,  and  Berlin, 
the  refmement  and  exaltation  of  his  art,  but  transmitted  his  influence 
with  the  happiest  results  through  his  numerous  pupils.  Among  these, 
besides  his  sons  Wilhelm  Friedemann  and  Karl  Philipp  Emanuel,  we 
also  find  the  following  distinguished  musicians:  Johann  Ludwig  Krebs, 
Johann  Christian  Kittel,  Johann  Friedrich  Agricola,  and  Johann  Phi- 
lipp Kirnberger. 

Besides  the  later  editions  already  mentioned  of  earlier  German 
masters,  the  following,  have  been  published  by  J.  Eieter-Biedermann, 
Leipzig:  Georg  Muff  at,  two  Suites  and  a  Ciacona  (Schletterer);— by 
Bartholf  Senff,  J.  C.  Kerl,  Toccata;  J.  J.  Froherger,  Toccata;  Gott- 
lieh  Muffat,  two  Minuets  and  Courante;  J.  L.  Krebs,  Fugue  in 
JF'-major  (Pauer);  — by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  J.  L.  Krebs,  two  Par- 
tite; Froberger,  Toccata;  G.  Muffat,  Gigue  and  Allegro  spirituoso 
(Pauer); — by  G.  W.  Korner  in  Erfurt,  Complete  Editions  of  the  Organ 
and  Clavier  compositions  of  Pachelbel,  JBuxtehude,  J.  L.  Krebs,  F.  W. 
Zacliau,  and  Handel,  all  to  be  had  in  separate  Parts; — by  Peters  in 
Leipzig,  14  Chorale-variations  by  D.  JBuxtehude,  edited  by  S.  W. 
Dehn; — by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  Buxtehude,  Organ  compositions,  Vol. 
1  and  2,  edited  by  Philipp  Spitta. 

In  this  connection  the  following  modern  biographical  works  re- 
quire special  mention:  G.  F.  Handel,  by  F.  Chrysander,  Vol.  1  to  3, 
first  half.  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  1867,  etc. — Johann  Sebastian  Bach, 
by  C.  H.  Bitter;  Berlin,  Ferd.  Schneider,  1865,  2  Yols.— Johann  Se- 
bastian Bach,  by  Philipp  Spitta;  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  Vol.  1  and  2, 
1873  and  1878. 


—     48     — 


n.  The  Clavier  Style  resulting  from  the  new  System 

of  Harmony. 


The  Science  of  Accompaniment  or  Thorough-bass,  which  at 
first  proposed  only  the  harmonic  support  of  the  solo  singer,  or  of 
certain  polyphonic  compositions,  soon  found  so  many  friends  and  ad- 
herents everjn^vhere,  that  between  the  years  1620  and  1800  a  great 
number  of  treatises  on  the  same  were  published.  The  earliest  of  these 
appeared  in  Italy  by  G.  Sabbatini  and  Gasparini;  in  Germany  by 
Heini-ich  Albert  (in  the  1st  Part  of  his  poetico-musical  Lushvdld- 
lein),  Werckmeister,  Medt,  Heinichen  and  Mattheson;  in  France  by 
3Iichel  de  Saint  Lambert  and  J.  F.  Dandrieu;  in  England  by  Matthew 
Xiock,  etc.  A  method  of  Harmony  going  more  thoroughly  into  the 
derivation  and  progression  of  the  chords  did  not,  however,  appear 
until  1722  in  Paris,  entitled:  "Traite  de  I'Harmonie  reduite  k  ses  prin- 
cipes  natui-els",  by  Rameau.  This  acute  theoretician  now  first  pre- 
:sented,  together  with  the  triads,  the  various  chords  of  the  seventh 
likewise,  with  their  transpositions  and  inversions,  as  independent  har- 
monic bodies,  and  classified  the  frequent  progressions  of  the  same  in 
the  works  of  practical  musicians  under  distinct  rules.  This  new  science 
of  harmony,  which  soon  became  the  foundation  of  many  similar  works 
following,  now  often  found  practical  application  in  the  composition  of 
clavier  pieces;  a  bass  part  being  set  to  a  principal  melody,  and  the 
above  fuller  chords  being  added  in  appropriate  places  as  a  filling. 
Thus  the  independence  of  the  inner  parts  in  such  compositions  quite 
disappeared;  tJw  strict  and  ecclesiastically  serious  contrapuntal  organ 
style  ivas  abandoned  in  the  same,  and  replaced  by  a  freer  and  secu- 
larly more  pleasing  style,  better  suited  to  tlie  character  of  the  clavier. 

The  first  musician  in  Germany  who  attempted  to  free  clavier 
compositions  from  the  fetters  of  counterpoint,  was  Sebastian  Bach's 
immediate  predecessor  as  Cantor  of  the  Thomasschule,  Johann  Kuhnaii 
(1667—1722),  of  whose  compositions  the  following  should  be  noted 
here.  "Neue  Clavierlibung"  (New  clavier-practice).  Part.  I,  "consisting 
of  seven  Suites  in  the  Ut,  Re,  Mi,  or  Tertia  majore  of  each  Mode",  etc., 
Leipzig,  1689  and  1695;  "Neue  Clavierubung",  Part.  11.  "That  is, 
seven  Suites  in  the  Re,  Mi,  Fa,  or  Tertia  minore  of  each  mode,  to- 
gether with  a  Sonata  in  the  JBi?"  etc.   Leipzig,  1695;  "Frische  Clavier- 


—    49     — 

friiclite"  (Fresh  Clavier-fruits)  "or  seven  Sonatas  of  good  Invention 
and  Style,  to  be  played  on  the  Clavier",  Leipzig,  1696;  and  '-Musi- 
kalische  Vorstellun;;-  einii;-ev  biblischen  Historien"  (i\[usical  Presen- 
tation of  certain  biblical  Narrations)  "in  VI  Sonatas,  to  be  played  on 
the  Clavier"  etc.,  Leipzig,  J.  Tietzen,  1700.  In  the  Preface  to  the 
second  Part  of  his  Neuc  ClavierUhung  Kuhnau  makes  the  following 
observations:  "1  have  also  added  a  Sonata  in  I??,  which  will  like- 
wise afford  pleasure  to  amateurs.  For  why  should  one  not  be  able 
to  perform  such  pieces  on  the  Clavier,  as  well  as  on  other  instru- 
ments? seeing  that  no  instrument  whatever  could  yet  pretend  to 
take  precedence  of  the  Clavier  in  point  of  perfection.  I  call  it  per- 
fect compared  vdth  others,  but  not  in  comparison  with  a  Sonata  or 
Concerto  artistically  written  for  many  parts  (different  instruments); 
because  one  cannot  always  continue  that,  which  has  otherwise  to  be 
executed  by  many  persons,  in  such  a  way  as  to  drop  no  single  part. 
Or,  if  it  were  desired  to  execute  each  single  part  strictly,  much 
would  appear  constrained,  and  agreeabloness  would  often  be  sacrificed. 
For  which  reason  I  too,  following  celebrated  masters,  have  sometimes 
intentionally  shown  myself  somewhat  negligent  in  the  Allcmandes,  Cou- 
rantes,  and  Sarabandes,  here  leaving  out  one  part,  or  in  another  place 
adding  a  new  one.  But  the  fugues  in  four  parts  are  strictly  worked 
out." — In  the  Sonata  in  B9  here  mentioned,  especially  interesting  as 
one  of  the  earliest  attempts  in  this  form,  Kuhnau,  despite  his  evident 
striving  to  create  a  lighter  and  more  appropriate  style  for  the  Clavier, 
is  unable  to  shake  off  the  customary  contrapuntal  forms.  An  Allegro 
in  5b,  whose  monotonous  rhythm  in  ^/^  time  is  kept  up  by  an  un- 
interrupted movement  in  eighth-notes,  is  followed  by  a  free  fiigiied 
movement  in  sixteenth-notes  in  the  same  key.  A  short  Adagio  in  jE>, 
in  "/^  time,  then  modulates  to  (7-major,  immediately  followed  by  an 
Allegi'o  in  the  same  measure,  going  over  to  and  closing  in  J^j^-major. 
The  direction  "Da  Capo"  indicates,  that  the  piece  is  tiicn  to  be  re- 
peated again  up  to  the  Adagio.  /Jhe  entire  Sonata  shows  as  yet 
not  one  characteristic  thought,  but  only  separate  phrases,  motives,  and 
passages,  monotonously  elaborated  in  Imitations  and  Sequences  mclo- 
dically  connected.  In  the  FriscJw  CJavierfruchte,  however,  seven  So- 
natas of  1696^/ such  an  important  advance  is  shown  as  compared 
with  the  earlier  work,  as  to  justify  the  conjecture  that  Kuhnau  had 
in  the  meantime  gained  acquaintance  with  the  better  Italian  compo- 
sitions in  this  field,  although  in  his  Preface  he  inveighs  against  the 
practice  of  estimating  foreign  productions  above  native  ones;  for  in 


—     50     — 

GeiTnaiiy  one  might  find  almost  as  good  musical  fruits  as  those  which 
grow  in  foreign  climes,  "not  to  mention,  that  Nature  has  blessed  our 
fields  with  many  fruits  which  foreigners  lack".  — These  new  Sonatas 
have  either  four  or  five  movements  in  different  tempi;  the  motives 
already  oftener  grow  to  intelligible  melodies;  sections  in  song-form, 
with  a  subordinate  harmonic  accompaniment,  alternate  with  figurate 
passages  more  strictly  developed;  a  Ciacona  is  built  up  upon  a  lasso 
ostinata,  an  interesting  double-fugue  is  carried  out;  it  is  therefore 
easily  explainable,  tliat  new  editions  of  these  Sonatas  were  issued  in 
1710  and  1724.  In  Kuhnau's  Biblical  Narratives  of  the  year  1700, 
which  were  also  reprinted  in  Leipzig  in  1725,  there  are  Sonatas 
having  from  three  to  eight  movements,  in  which  the  Fugue,  the  figurate 
Chorale,  Songs,  Dances,  and  other  free  forms,  alternate  in  motley 
succession.  A  Sonata  in  6^-major  by  J.  Mattheson,  published  in 
Hamburg  in  the  year  1713,  from  the  form  and  richer  passages  of 
which  an  acquaintance  with  the  earlier-named  contemporary  Italians 
may  be  conjectured,  still  exhibits  the  conception  of  the  Sonata  in 
the  general  sense  of  "Sound-piece",  as  it  consists  of  a  single  move- 
ment of  considerable  length;  therefore  this  musician,  who  was  un- 
commonly active  as  a  theorist  and  critic,  was  quite  justified  in  writ- 
ing as  late  as  1739.  in  his  "Vollkommener  Kapellmeister"  (Complete 
Conductor),  (page  233):  ^-Some  years  ago  they  began  writing  Sonatas 
for  the  Clavier,  with  good  success;  hitherto  the  same  have  no  proper 
form,  and  would  be  rather  moved  than  moving,  that  is,  they  aim 
more  at  the  motion  of  the  fingers  than  the  emotion  of  the  heart." — 
"In  the  Sonatas,"  he  remarks  further  (p.  137)  "a  certain  complaisance 
must  obtain,  which  adapts  itself  to  all,  and  wherewith  every  hearer 
may  be  gratified.  In  the  various  changes  of  the  Sonata  a  sad  per- 
son will  meet  with  something  plaintive  and  sympathetic,  an  angry 
one  somethuig  vehement,  a  sensualist  something  exquisite,  etc.  The 
composer,  too,  must  bear  tliis  aim  in  mind  for  his  Adagio,  Andante, 
Presto,  etc.;  then  his  work  will  find  success."  It  is  apparent  from 
this,  that  Mattheson  also  strove  to  endow  the  Clavier  Sonata  with  a 
more  distinctively  marked,  pregnant  meaning,  together  with  a  more 
generally  ple.-ising  form. 

The  Silesia n  campaigns  of  Frederick  the  Great,  which  held 
Germany  in  almost  continual  suspense  and  agitation  from  1740  to 
1763,  necessarily  retarded  the  growth  of  such  "frische  Clavierfriichte" 
not  a  little.  Yet  even  in  these  stirring  times  attempts  were  made  to 
keep  alive   the  love  for  music,   especially  by  means  of  weekly  or 


—    51     — 

monthly  Periodicals,  which  gave  the  leading  composers  an  oppor- 
tunity to  publish  compositions  of  all  descriptions,  for  which  latter, 
under  existing  conditions,  they  could  hardly  have  found  any  other 
publishers.  Among  the  most  noteworthy  of  these  collections,  in  which 
clavier  works  were  also  included,  or  which  were  specially  intended 
for  the  latter,  the  publication  of  the  same  continuing  through  the 
Seven  Years'  War  until  about  30  years  thereafter,  we  name  the  fol- 
lowing: "Musikalisches  Allerley"  (Musical  Salmagundi)  by  various 
Composers  (its  editor  was  F.  W.  Marpurg),  Berlin,  Birnstiel,  1760— 
1763,  nine  collections;  "Musikalisches  Mancherley",  (Musical  Miscel- 
lany), four  pieces,  Berlin,  Winter,  1762—1765;  "Musikalisches  Vieler- 
ley"  (Musical  Olio),  edited  by  C.  Ph.  Em.  Bach.  Hamburg,  Bock, 
1770;  "Blumenlese  fur  Clavierliebhaber"  (Selected  Clavier -pieces  for 
Amateurs)  5  Vols.,  Spire,  Bossier,  1782—1787;  "Claviermagazin  ftir 
Kenner  und  Liebhaber"  ( — for  Connoisseurs  and  Amateurs),  edited  by 
Rellstab,  four  collections,  1787—1788;  "Neue  miisik.  Zeitschrift"  (New 
Music  Journal)  "for  Encouragement  and  Entertainment  in  Solitude  at 
the  Clavier  for  tlie  Skilled  and  Unskilled",  Halle,  Hendel,  1792; 
further  we  should  mention  the  "Sammlung  vermischter  Tonstucke" 
(Collection  of  miscellaneous  Pieces)  by  various  authors,  in  two  Parts, 
Hanover,  Schmidt,  1782  and  1783;  the  following  collections,  published 
by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  of  Leipzig:  "Raccolta  delle  piii  nuove  com- 
posizioni  di  Clavicembalo,  2  Tomi",  1756  and  1757,  edited  by  F.  W. 
Marpurg;  "Wochentlicher  musikalischer  Zeitvertreib"  (Weekly  musical 
Pastime),  four  Parts,  1760  and  1761;  and  "Musikalisches  Magazin", 
eight  pieces,  1763;  and  fmally,  the  excellent  collection  "QEuvres melees, 
contenant  VI  Senates  pour  le  clavessin  d'autant  de  plus  celebres  com- 
positeurs, ranges  en  ordre  alphabetique",  Nuremberg,  J.  U.  Haffner, 
which  contains  86  Clavier  Sonatas  in  12  Parts,  and  appears  to  have 
been  issued  from  1755  to  1765. 

The  Forms  of  Art  cultivated  both  in  these  Collections,  and  in 
the  Clavier  compositions  published  separately  up  to  1790,  and  not 
yet  mentioned  here,  include  Fugues,  and  other  contrapuntally  written 
pieces  which  gradually  grow  rarer  and  at  last  quite  disappear; 
separate  Marches,  Polonaises,  Minuets,  etc.,  or  Suites  uniting  several 
such  dance-forms;  so-called  "galante  Variationen"  (free  variations)  or 
"Verituderungen"  (Variations),  calculated  solely  for  outward  effect, 
and  affording  little  of  interest  besides;  shorter  Salon  pieces  in  song- 
form  or  rondo-form;  and  Clavier  Sonatas,  of  peculiar  interest  to  us, 
and  now  appearing  in  ever-increasing  numbers.     The  strict  contra- 

4* 


—     52     — 

puntal  style  of  clavier  composition  having  teen  gradually  given  up, 
as  remarked  before,  as  the  science  of  harmony  or  thorough-bass 
became  known,  most  of  these  compositions  are  written  in  two  parts; 
a  predominant  higher  part  is  accompanied  by  a  more  or  less  interest- 
ing bass,  sometimes  in  broken  chords,  at  others  with  full  harmonies. 
Occasionally  fuller  harmonies  are  written  for  both  hands;  but  even 
in  the  rarer  compositions  written  on  the  whole  in  three  or  four  parts, 
the  inner  parts  lack  contrapuntal  independence,  being  treated  only 
as  an  harmonic  filling.  Among  the  authors  of  these  compositions, 
the  following  are  most  prominent: 

Gottfried  Heinrich  Stolzel  (1690—1749),  Court  Kapellmeister 
in  Saxe-Gotha,  by  whom  an  original  Enharmonic  Clavier  Sonata  was 
printed,  though  not  until  after  his  death,  in  the  "Musikalisches  Aller- 
ley",  1761  p.  48.  This  consists  of  a  Largo  of  arpeggio'd  four -part 
chords  in  C- minor,  */^  time,  a  three-part  enharmonic  Fugue  in  "/i 
time,  whose  episodes  are  at  times  strengthened  by  fuller  chords,  and 
a  movement  in  ^/g  time,  in  the  two-part  style  described  above,  with 
the  direction  dolce,  closing  the  interesting  composition  in  C-minor 
with  enharmonic  plaintiveness.  Its  enharmonic  form  lies  in  transform- 
ing a  chord,  e.  g.  /"j|-a-c-eb,  which  is  made  to  modulate  by  the  suc- 
ceeding harmonies  into  g\>-h\?-d\p-e,  the  tone  f^  being  thus  enharmoni- 
eally  changed  to  ^1?,  etc. 

Stolzel's  successor  in  Gotha  was  Geopg  Benda  (1721 — 1795); 
by  him  were  published  in  1757  (Berlin,  Winter):  "Sei  Sonate  per  il 
Cembalo  solo";  further  six  collections  of  miscellaneous  clavier-pieces 
and  songs  (Gotha,  Ettinger,  1781);  and  "2  Concerti  per  il  Cembalo", 
with  accompaniment  by  string  quartet  (Leipzig,  Schwickert,  1779). 
These  clavier-works  already  reveal  in  the  most  gratifying  manner  the 
striving  of  the  renowned  creator  of  the  Monodrama  and  Melodrama 
in  Germany,  to  lend  instrumental  works  distinctive  and  intelligible 
expression. 

Ernst  Wilhelm  Wolf  (1735—1762),  Court  Kapellmeister  in  Saxc- 
Weimar,  is  likewise  mentioned  in  Gerber's  old  "Tonkiinstlerlexikon" 
as  one  of  our  classic  and  most  original  composers;  besides  several 
Clavier  Concertos,  he  published  various  numbers  containing  six  Clavier 
Sonatas  each  at  Leipzig,  in  the  years  1774,  1775,  and  1779;  further, 
a  "Sonatina  and  four  effective  Sonatas  for  the  Clavier",  Leipzig,  1785; 
and  finally,  one  of  the  earliest  Clavier  Sonatas  for  four  hands  printed 
in  Germany  (Leipzig,  1784).— A  year  before,  there  appeared  a  volume 
of  carefully  and  skilfully  wrought  compositions  of  the  same  kind,  by 


—     53     — 

tlie  CatLcdral  Organist  at  Halberstaclt,  Christian  Heinrich  Miillep, 
entitled  "Three  Sonatas  for  the  Clavier  as  a  double  piece  for  two 
Persons  with  four  hands  (sic),  Dessau,  1783". 

Carl  Philipp  Emanuel  Bach,  the  sou  of  the  great  Sebastian, 
must  be  regarded  as  tlie  head  of  this  earlier  Clavier  School,  under 
whose  influence  all  the  more  vigorous  compositions  during  the  period 
from  1750  to  1790  were  produced,  and  whose  thorough  reform  of 
Clavier -playing  first  opened  the  way  for  the  development  of  a  fine 
Clavier-style.  He  was  born  in  Weimar  in  1714,  and  his  father  him- 
self gave  him  early  instruction  in  Clavier- playing  and  composition. 
Although  gifted  with  a  teeming  fancy,  and  thoroughly  imbued  with 
these  highly  valuable  teachings,  he  clearly  perceived  that  in  his 
father's  works  the  art  of  counterpoint  had  reached  the  highest  pitch 
of  perfection,  and  that  he  himself  must  open  a  new  path,  above  all 
lead  the  compositions  intended  for  the  clavier  into  new  channels,  in 
order  to  awaken  fresh  interest  for  the  same.  He  therefore  busied 
himself  foremostly  with  the  principles  of  "accompanying",  according 
to  which  a  leading  melody,  though  harmonically  supported,  should 
not  be  surrounded  by  equally  prominent  independent  parts;  he  in- 
vestigated the  character  of  the  swiftly  vanishing  tones  of  the  Clavi- 
chord, and  brings  out,  in  his  compositions  of  a  style  adapted  to  the 
same,  melodies  rhythmically  and  melodically  agreeable,  sounds  chords 
broken  or  arpeggio'd  in  the  most  varied  manner,  pours  out  passages 
of  effective  though  easy  execution,  reinforces  the  coy  tone  of  the 
clavichord  by  frequent  appoggiaturas,  mordents,  and  trills;  and  strives 
above  all  things  to  influence  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  botli  by  his 
compositions  and  his  rendering.  The  form  chiefly  and  most  happily 
developed  by  him  in  his  numerous  clavier-works,  which  were  in  part 
published  at  his  own  expense,  was  the  Sonata;  and  it  was  he,  who 
by  unwearying  perseverance  at  length  wrought  it  out  into  a  com- 
position cocLsisting  of  three  movements,  the  first  of  which,  in  the 
sonata-form  already  mentioned,  makes  the  hearer  the  confidant  of  an 
emotional  state  warmly  and  vividly  portrayed;  —  while  the  second, 
the  Adagio  or  Andante,  illumines  this  mood,  in  contrast  to  the  other 
two  movements,  in  a  more  tranquil  frame  of  mind;  and  the  third, 
the  Finale  or  Kondo,  expresses  the  same  urgently  and  repeatedly 
with  intensified  impetus.  One  characteristic  leading  idea  in  the 
principal  key  is  the  subject  of  the  first  movement;  but  a  contrasting 
second  theme  is  not  yet  found  in  the  same,  a  substitute  being  given 
therefor  in  the  modulatory  contrast,  the  more  rapid  passages  in  the 


—    54    — 

first  part  of  the  sonata  passing  over  into  the  key  of  the  dominant, 
or,  in  movements  in  minor,  into  the  relative  major,  and  closing  in 
this  new  key;  the  second  part,  after  a  thematic  development  of  the 
foregoing  theme  and  after  the  repetition  of  the  principal  idea,  ia 
then  carried  on  in  the  same  way  as  the  first,  but  closes  this  time  in 
the  principal  key.  In  like  manner,  Emanuel  Bach  gave  to  the  Rondo, 
where  the  principal  theme  is  repeated  thrice  or  oftener  in  the  prin- 
cipal key  after  various  modulatory  episodes,  for  the  first  time  the 
breadth  and  independence  of  an  intelligible  movement  complete  in 
itself.  We  find  such  in  his  six  collections  of  Clavier  Sonatas,  Rondos, 
and  free  Fantasias.  Sometimes  he  employs  a  two-part  movement, 
sometimes  one  in  three  or  four  parts,  to  carry  out  his  ideas,  occasion- 
ally supporting  a  principal  melody  by  the  bass  alone,  but  often  giving 
the  clavier  fuller  and  stronger  chords  for  effective  execution. 

At  the  court  of  Frederick  11.  music  was  then  extraordinarily 
valued  and  fostered,  and  the  royal  capital  thus  raised  to  a  rallying- 
point  for  the  most  eminent  native  and  foreign  musicians.  Emanuel 
Bach,  too,  proceeded  to  Berlin  in  the  year  1738  as  a  finished  artist; 
but  not  until  two  years  later  did  he  obtain  an  appointment  as 
Kammernmsilus  and  Hof cembalist,  in  which  capacity  he  also  had  to 
accompany  the  king's  own  performances  on  the  flute.  Although  he 
reverently  acknowledged  the  gi*eat  qualities  of  the  monarch,  he  never- 
theloss  had  no  mind  to  submit  to  his  dictates  in  artistic  matters.  As 
he  expressed  himself,  an  artist  favored  by  Heaven  is  a  freeman  born, 
and  needs  to  recognize  no  other  laws  than  his  own.  Such  views 
naturally  came  into  frequent  collision  with  those  of  a  monarch  go- 
verning according  to  other  principles;  yet  the  latter  respected  the 
extraordinaiy  talent  of  his  Kammervirtuos,  whose  ingenious  compo- 
sitions, however,  won  no  approbation  whatever  in  Berlin  at  that 
time.  In  1745  Christoph  Nichelmann  (1717—1762),  a  pupil  of  Se- 
bastian Bach  and  his  son  Friedemann,  was  engaged  as  a  second 
Court  Harpsichordist.  Several  of  his  compositions  were  printed  in 
tlie  '-Musikalischcs  Allerley"  of  1761  and  1762  in  Berlin;  also,  12  So- 
natas in  two  Parts,  in  Nuremberg.  Upon  his  resigning  this  office  in 
1756,  he  was  succeeded  by  Carl  Fasch  (1736—1800),  later  the  founder 
of  the  Berlin  SvigaJcademie,  who  proved  a  more  compliant  accompa- 
nist for  the  king's  flute-practice,  wherein  the  strictest  tempo  was  not 
always  observed,  than  Emanuel  Bach.  The  meritorious  composer  of 
a  sixteen-part  Mass,  Carl  Fasch,  was  also  one  of  the  most  tasteful 
flavier  composers  of  that  time,  as  is  shown  by  the  Sonatas  jsinted 


—     55     — 

in  the  "i\rusikalisclies  Vielerley"  of  1770,  and  the  "IMusikalisches 
Mancherley"  of  1762,  as  well  as  in  the  four  Sonatas  published  after 
his  death  by  Rellstab  (Berlin,  1805).  The  two  Sonatas  of  1770  al- 
ready have  three  movements,  like  those  previously  mentioned,  and 
exhibit,  together  with  a  brilliant  clavier-style,  an  attractive  and  in- 
telligible conception.  —  The  distinguished  theoretician  and  musical 
historian  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Marpurg  also  dwelt  in  Berlin  from  1749 
till  his  death  in  1795;  besides  various  contrapuntal  works  he  also 
attempted  freer  clavier  composition,  though  not  with  the  happiest 
success.  His  published  compositions  are  "Fughe  e  Capricci"  for  Cla- 
vier or  Organ,  Berlin,  Hummel,  1777;  "6  Senate  per  il  Cembalo", 
Nuremberg,  1756;  "Clavierstiicke  fiir  Anfanger  und  Geilbtere,  mit 
einem  praktischen  Unterricht"  (Clavier-pieces  for  Beginners  and  Ad- 
vanced Players,  with  a  Practical  Course),  Berlin,  Haude  &  Spener, 
1762,  in  three  Parts.— In  the  year  175S  Johann  Phih'pp  Kirnberger 
(1721  —  1783),  a  pupil  of  Sebastian  Bach,  entered  the  service  of  Prin- 
cess Amalie  of  Prussia  as  Court  Musician  and  Harpsichordist;  in  the 
collections  mentioned  we  likewise  find,  by  this  celebrated  theoretician, 
numerous  Minuets,  Polonaises,  and  similar  dances,  together  with  Va- 
riations, figurate  Chorales,  and  other  compositions  designed  for  the 
clavier.  However,  contrapuntal  work  suited  him  better  than  the  freer 
clavier  style;  among  his  compositions,  therefore,  only  the  "Four  Col- 
lections of  Clavier-exercises  after  Bach's  Method  of  Fingering,  ar- 
ranged in  a  Series  from  the  easiest  up  to  the  most  difficult  Pieces" 
(Berlin,  1762 — 1764),  are  still  of  value,  on  account  of  the  fingering 
given  therein. — Finally,  Sebastian's  eldest  son,  Wilhelm  Friedemann 
Bach  (1710—1784),  also  came  to  Berlin,  after  living  for  twenty  years 
in  Halle  as  an  organist.  Emanuel  extols  him  as  the  only  organist 
on  a  par  with  his  father  in  organ-playing;  he  must  be  named  here, 
not  only  as  a  fine  clavier-player,  but  also  as  a  clavier  composer  of 
bold  harmonic  invention.  In  1778  he  dedicated  to  Princess  Amalie 
Eight  Fugues,  which,  like  twelve  of  his  Polonaises  for  Clavier,  did 
not  appear  in  print  until  lately  (Peters,  Leipzig).  During  his  life- 
time extremely  few  of  his  compositions  were  published;  "Senate 
pour  le  clavecin",  Halle,  1739;  and  No.  1  of  "Sei  senate  per  il  Cem- 
balo", Dresden,  1745;  but  the  Eoyal  Library  at  Berlin  still  possesses 
a  great  number  of  the  same  in  manuscript.  Friedemann  Bach  died 
in  Berlin  in  extreme  destitution;  for  his  brother  Emanuel  had  turned 
his  back  upon  that  city,  in  which  he  had  labored  for  twenty-nine 
years  and  which  so  little  recognized  his  high  deserts,  as  early  as 


—     56     — 

1767,  to  accept  a  position  as  Music  Director  in  Hamburg  vacated  by 
Telemaun's  decease.  Here  the  mentally  vigorous  artist  labored  for 
twenty-one  years  longer,  dying  in  1788.  He  was  one  of  our  most 
fruitful,  inventive,  and  influential  composers,  leaving  over  300  works 
for  Clavier,  including  52  Concertos,  whose  effect,  however,  seems  to 
have  been  calculated  for  the  general  public,  and  but  9  of  which 
have  been  published;  among  these  the  last,  entitled:  "Sei  Concevti 
per  11  Cembalo  concertato  accompagnato  da  due  Violini,  Violetta  e 
Basso;  con  due  Corni  e  due  Flauti  per  rinforza"  etc.,  Hamburg,  1772^ 
at  the  author's  expense.  His  first  VI  Sonatas,  dedicated  to  the  King 
of  Prussia,  were  published  in  1742  by  Schmidt,  Nuremberg;  ''Sei  Sonata 
per  Cembalo,  opera  Ilda",  dedicated  to  Duke  Carl  Eugen  of  Wiirttcm- 
berg,  Nuremberg,  1744,  at  the  expense  of  the  Engraver,  J.  W.  Winter; 
10  Sonatas,  in  the  above-mentioned  CEuvres  melees,  Nuremberg,  Haff- 
ner,  1755  et  scq.;  Six  Sonatas  for  Clavier,  with  varied  Bcprises, 
dedicated  to  Princess  Amalie  of  Prussia,  Winter,  Berlin,  1759;  Two 
Continuations  to  the  same,  1761  and  1763;  -Una  Sonata  per  il  Cem- 
balo solo"  in  C-minor,  Breitkopf,  Leipzig  and  Dresden,  1785;  -'Sei 
Sonate  per  il  Cembalo  solo  all'  uso  delle  donne",  Hartknoch,  Riga, 
1786;  Six  Collections  of  Clavier  Sonatas,  free  Fantasias,  and  Rondos, 
•'for  Connoisseurs  and  Amateurs",  Author's  subscription  edition,  Leipzig, 
1779  —  1787.  The  second  of  these  Collections  (1781)  bears  the  title; 
•'Clavier-Sonaten  nebst  einigen  Rondos  fiir's  Fortepiano".  His  Clavier- 
compositions  consist  besides  of  Quartets,  Trios,  and  Duos  for  Clavier 
and  various  other  instruments,  but  only  a  small  part  has  been  printed; 
further,  of  Sonatas,  Variations,  and  shorter  Pieces,  scattered  among 
the  Collections  of  the  period.  For  example,  Nos.  25,  26,  and  27  of 
the  Musikalisches  Allerley  for  1761  contain  a  "Claviersouate  von 
Herrn  Carl  Philipp  Emanuel  Bach",  which  consists  of  an  AUemande, 
Courante,  Sarabande,  Minuet  with  two  Trios  and  a  Gigue,  thus 
forming  a  Suite  which  ranks  with  his  most  powerful  compositions,  and 
coiTespondingly  develops  the  more  free  and  flowing  clavier  style  in- 
augurated by  him,  in  contrast  to  the  strict  contrapuntal  work  of  his 
father  in  pieces  of  like  form. 

Fully  as  lasting  as  in  Ms  vigorous  compositions  was  Emanuel's 
influence  in  his  theoretico-practical  work,  published  in  1753  in  Berlin: 
"Versuch  uber  die  wahre  Art  das  Clavier  zu  spielen"  (Essay  on  the 
true  Method  of  playing  the  Clavier).  In  it  he  treats  of  the  correct 
firtfjcring  according  to  his  father's  principles,  settles  the  execution  of 
the  many  Agremens  or  Graces  then  in  vogue,  particularly  as  copied 


—     57     — 

from  French   masters,  and  closes  with  sagacious  ohservations   on  a 
good  rendering.     First,  he  explains  the  proper  iwsUion  of  the  hands 
and  fingers,  advises  training  the  left  hand  to  equal  skill  with  the 
right,  and  aims  at  attaining,  through  his  systematic  method,  a  finished, 
clear,  natural,  and  singing  style.     He  then  recommends  practice  not 
only  on  the  light  action  of  the  clayi chord,  but  also  on  the  harpsi- 
cliord,  with  its  heavier  touch;  treats  the  hitherto  neglected  thumb  as 
the  principal  finger,  which  by  reason  of  its  shortness,  however,  like 
the  little  finger,  should  be  used  only  "in  case  of  necessity  on  the 
black  keys  intended  for  the  longer  middle  fingers."    Of  the  Appoggia- 
turas  he  says,  amoug  other  things,  that  they  must  always  be  played 
stronger   than   the   following   note,   and  drawn  up  or  hound  to  the 
latter;   they  usually  occupy  half  the  time  of  a  following  note  con- 
sisting   of  two    equal   parts,    but   two    thirds   of  such   a   note    con- 
sisting of  unequal  parts.    The  short  appoggiaturas  take  one  or  more 
tails,  and  are  so  executed,  that  the  following  note  loses  as  little  as 
possible  in  value.     Occasionally,  he  proceeds,  the  long  appoggiatura 
may   for   the  sake  of  effect  take   more   than  half  of  the  following 
note;  the  harmony,  too,  often  decides  the  length  of  the  appoggiaturas, 
f(»r  the  same  must  cause    neither  parallel  fifths   nor   other  discords. 
The  Trlils,  of  which  he  mentions  very  many  kinds,  are  all  indicated 
by  tr  or   a   simple   cross  (dagger)  f;   but  the   regular  trill,   he  re- 
marks, properly  takes  the  sign  of  a  short  or  long  av  mv.    This  latter 
always   begins   on   the   second   above   the   main   note  which  it  em- 
bellishes.    When  the  trill  is  "rather  long",  or  followed  by  a  leap,  it 
always  takes  an  after-beat  (after-turn);  only  when  the  note  having 
the  trill   falls   by   a    second,   does   it  take   no   after-beat.     Even  a 
fairly  good  ear,  Emanuel  observes,  will  in  all  cases  perceive  when 
an  after-beat  is  required  or  not.     Chromatic  notes  not  indicated  in 
the  trill  or  its  after-beat,  must  be  divined  from  what  follows,  or  from 
the  modulation;  in  general,  the  interval  of  an  augmented  second  must 
be  formed  neither  in  the  trill  nor  the  after-beat;  thus  a  trill  on  the 
note  /"If,  in  (?-minor,  would  not  take  eb  in  the  after-beat,  but  e^,  etc. 
/The  following  fingerings  given  by  Bach  for  certain  trills  (p.  54  of  the 
Third  Edition,  1787)  are  peculiar: — When  the  higher  tone  of  a  trill 
falls  on  a  black  key  (e.  g.  on  eb),  and  the  lower  tone  on  a  white 
one  (e.  g.  on  d),  it  is  not  wrong  to  play  the  trill,  in  the  left  hand, 
with  the  second  finger  on  e^  and  the  thumb  on  d.     "Some  persons, 
for  the  sake  of  convenience,  especially  if  the  touch  is  heavy,  have 
the  habit  of  playing  trills  in  the  right  hand  with  the  third  and  fifth 


—     58     — 

fingers,  or  the  second  and  fouitli."  The  Rendering,  he  says  further 
on,  consists  in  the  delivery  of  musical  ideas  to  the  ear  according  to 
their  true  meaning  and  feeling;  for  through  it,  one  and  the  same 
idea  may  he  made  to  take  on  very  various  significance.  An  Adagio 
should  therefore  not  he  taken  too  fast,  or  an  Allegro  too  slowly;  all 
notes  must  have  their  due  force,  and  the  expression  altogether  must 
be  clean,  flowing,  and  clear.  "But  one  should  play  from  the  heart, 
not  like  a  trained  bird",  for  a  musician  cannot  move  others  unless 
he  himself  be  moved,  and  he  must  himself  feel  all  those  emotions 
which  he  would  awaken  in  his  hearers.  —  A  second  Part  of  this  work, 
published  in  Berlin,  1762,  contains  the  Science  of  Accompaniment  and 
of  Free  Improvisation.  In  the  Introduction  Emanuel  remarks:  "The 
taste  of  to-day  has  brought  into  vogue  a  style  of  harmony  quite  dif- 
ferent from  that  formerly  in  use.  Our  melodies,  graces,  and  delivery 
therefore  often  demand  unusual  harmonies.  These  are  now  weak, 
now  strong,  and  consequently  the  duties  of  an  accompanist  have  far 
wider  scope  now-a-days  (2nd  Edition,  1797)  than  formerly,  and  the 
familiar  Rules  of  Thorough-bass  are  no  longer  adequate,  and  undergo 
frequent  modifications."  Then  in  the  sequel  he  gives  the  boldest  re- 
solutions of  dissonant  chords,  up  to  that  time  used  occasionally  only 
by  himself;  but  treats  neither  these  nor  the  consonant  chords  in  their 
connection  as  a  fundamental  chord  with  its  transpositions  or  inver- 
sions; he  likewise  still  treats  suspensions  before  triads  or  chords  of 
the  seventh  as  individual  harmonic  forms,  under  the  names  of  "chords 
of  the  second  and  fifth,  second  and  third,  sixth  and  seventh,  fourth  and 
seventh",  etc.  The  Free  Improvisations,  he  observes  further  on,  are 
either  Preludes,  which  prepare  for  the  subject  of  a  following  piece, 
and  must  therefore  bear  the  character  of  the  same,  or  pieces  invented 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  containing  no  definite  mensural  divisions, 
in  which  modulations  may  be  effected  not  only  to  related  keys,  but 
also  to  any  others.  By  means  of  a  thorough  knowledge  and  bold 
employment  of  harmony,  he  remarks,  one  becomes  master  of  all  keys, 
and  can  then  invent  modulations,  even  in  the  free  style,  quite  unknown 
before.  The  trained  musician  can  then  modulate  in  an  agreeable  and 
striking  fashion  whither  he  will,  even  in  developed  compositions;  for 
"  Wisdom,  Science,  and  Courage  put  up  with  no  such  confined  transi- 
tions as  our  forefathers  laid  doivn". 

The  most  notable  and  influential  German  Clavier  Methods,  and 
works  treating  of  the  Art  of  Clavier-playing,  belonging  to  this  earlier 
period,  were  issued  as  first  editions  in  the  following  succession: 


—    59     — 

(Only  the  shorter  titles  are  given  in  full  in  German). 

1738.  Franz  Anton  Maichelbeck,  Music  Director  in  Freiburg: 
"Die  auf  dem  Clavier  lehrende  Cacilia"  (Cecilia  teaching  at  the  Clavier) 
"giving  good  instruction,  not  only  how  to  play  from  scores  with  three 
or  four  parts,  but  also  how  such  pieces  may  be  written  out  in  score, 
and  for  inventing  all  kinds  of  runs.  Likewise  the  rules  of  composi- 
tion both  in  counterpoint  and  in  the  Church  and  Theatre  Styles  at 
present  in  vogue,  with  the  addition  of  many  examples,  including  the 
eight  Chorale  Modes,  provided  with  illustrative  pieces,  and  divided 
into  three  parts,  viz:  I.  de  clavibus,  mensuris  et  notarum  valore; 
11.  de  fundamentis  partiturse;  III.  mit  exemplis  tonorum  et  versuum. 
op.  II,  Augsburg,  Lotter." 

1750.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Marpurg,  War  Councillor  and  musi- 
cal writer  of  Berlin:  "Die  Kuust,  das  Clavier  zu  spielen"  (The  Art 
of  playing  the  Clavier).  First  Part;  Second  Part,  "On  Thorough- 
bass", 1755,  Berlin.  Published  "unter  dem  Namen  des  kritischen 
Musicus  an  der  Spree". 

1753.  Carl  Philipp  Emanuel  Bach,  Kammervirtuose  in  Berlin: 
"Versuch  iiber  die  wahre  Art  das  Clavier  zu  spielen"  (Essay  on  the 
ti-ue  Method  of  playing  the  Clavier),  "illustrated  by  Examples  and  eight 
Specimen  Pieces  in  six  Sonatas.  First  Part,  Berlin;  Second  Part, 
treating  of  the  Science  of  Accompaniment  and  of  Free  Improvisation. 
Berlin,  Winter,  1762. 

1755.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Marpurg:  "Method  of  Clavier-playing, 
devised  in  accordance  with  the  elegant  Practice  of  the  Present  Time". 
Berlin,  Haude  &  Spener. 

1765.  Georg  Simon  Lohlein,  Kapellmeister  at  Danzig:  Clavier 
Method,  or  short  and  thorough  Instruction  in  IMelody  and  Harmony, 
illustrated  throughout  with  practical  Examples."  Leipzig;  Vol.  II,  1781. 

1767.  Johann  Samuel  Petri,  Cantor  at  Bautzen:  "Anleitung 
zur  praktischen  Musik"  (Introduction  to  practical  Music).  Lauban, 
Wirthgen.  Treats  in  lucid  and  thorough  style  of  music  in  general, 
of  Thorough-bass,  of  the  Organ,  of  the  Clavier  and  all  other  keyed 
instruments  and  their  treatment,  and  of  other  instruments. 

1789.  Daniel  Gottlob  Tiirk,  Music  Director  in  Halle:  "Clavier- 
schule  Oder  Anweisung  zum  Clavierspielen  ftir  Lehrer  und  Leruende" 
(Clavier  Method,  or  Instructor  in  Clavier-playing  for  Teachers  and 
Learners).  Leipzig  and  Halle,  at  the  Author's  expense;  sold  on  com- 
mission by  Schwickert,  Leipzig. 

The  next  work  on  the  same  subject,  by  A.  E.  MiJller  (Jena,  18041, 


—     60     — 

already  bears  the  title  of  '^Clavier  aad  Forfeptano  MefJiod",  But 
Tiirk,  who  was  also  acquainted  with  the  Fortepiano,  still  gives  de- 
cided piefereuce  to  the  Claviehord,  or  Clavier  proper,  "for  on  no 
other  keyed  instrument  can  a  delicate  execution  be  so  well  acquired 
as  on  this.  A  good  Clavichord",  he  observes,  "must  possess  a  strong,  full, 
but  at  the  same  time  pleasing  and  singing  tone,  which  does  not  vanish 
instantly  after  the  key  is  struck,  but  sounds  on  in  the  deepest  and 
medium  register  for  at  least  four  to  six  eighth-notes  in  a  moderately 
slow  Adagio,  letting  the  Bebung  (balancement)  be  distinctly  audible". 
—  This  Bebung,  however,  is  a  touch  impracticable  of  execution  on 
our  modern  Fortepiano*  For  in  the  Clavichord,  a  metallic  pin  (or 
similar  tangent)  was  pressed  against  the  string  on  striking  the  key, 
causing  the  string  to  sound,  and  not  quitting  tlie  same  until  the  finger 
was  lifted  from  the  key.  Marpurg,  in  his  "Art  of  playing  the  Clavier" 
(4th  Edition,  1762)  gives  the  sign  .''TT%  for  the  Bebung  over  a 
Half-note,  and  as  an  "effectus"  he  exhibits  four  separate  eighth-notes 
on  the  same  degree,  with  the  same  sign  over  them.  This  style  of 
touch  is  somewhat  more  definitely  explained  by  Georg  Friedrich 
Woif,  in  his  treatise:  "Short  but  plain  Instruction  in  Clavier-play- 
ing", Gottingen,  1783;  —  "The  Behung  (which  is  indicated  by  dots 
....  written  over  a  half-note  or  whole  note)  is  executed  by  ba- 
lancing the  tone,  so  to  speak,  with  the  finger  holding  the  same  down; 
that  this  should  be  done  gently,  is  self-evident". 

Perhaps  the  earliest  composition,  mentioning  in  its  title  the 
Fortepiano  then  coming  slowly,  step  by  step,  into  use,  is  the  follow- 
ing: "Duetto  fur  zwey  (two)  Claviere,  zwey  Fortepiano  oder  zwey 
Fliigel",  by  Johann  Gottfried  Miithel;  Riga,  Hartknoch,  1771.  The 
author  of  this  work,  a  pupil  of  Sebastian  Bach,  was  the  organist  of 
the  First  Church  at  Riga;  he  also  published  "3  Sonates  et  2  Ariosi 
avec  12  Variations  pour  le  Clavessin",  (Nuremberg,  Haffner),  and 
"2  Concerti  per  il  Cembalo"  (Riga,  1767).  In  style  Miithel  somewhat 
resembles  his  friend  Emanuel  Bach,  but  wrote  "less  gently  and  more 
noisily".  Burney  found  his  works,  though  more  difficult  than  those 
of  Handel,  Scarlatti,  Schobert,  and  Emanuel  Bach,  so  teeming  with 


•  On  Pianofortes  furnished  "with  a  sensitive  Erard  action,  not  only  the 
Bebung,  but  the  still  more  delicate  effect  of  a  continued  singing  tone,  can  be 
brought  out.  To  obtain  this  effect,  the  vibration  of  the  key  must  be  very 
short  and  rapid,  the  finger  never  leaving  the  key  nor  allowing  the  latter  to 
rise  quite  to  its  usual  level.  In  no  style  of  touch  is  perfect  looseness  and 
yieldingness  more  requisite,  than  in  this.  Transl.  Note. 


—    61     — 

new  ideas,  grace,  and  artistic  skill,  that  he  ranked  them  among  the 
greatest  productions  of  his  time. 

To  the  day  of  his  death,  Emanuel  Bach  used  a  Silbermann 
clavichord.  The  Harpsichords  then  likewise  very  popular,  with  their 
rasping  (ranschendcn)  tone,  he  thought  ill-suited  for  more  delicate 
clavier-playing;  and  regarding  the  Fortepiano  he  makes,  in  the  third 
edition  of  his  "Versuch  iiber  die  wahre  Art  das  Clavier  zu  spiclen" 
(1787),  the  following  observations:  "The  newer  Fortepianos,  when 
they  are  well  and  durably  made,  possess  many  advantages,  although 
their  management  must  be  studied  as  a  special  art,  and  not  without 
difficulty.  They  sound  well  cither  when  played  alone,  or  with  a  not 
too  powerful  orchestra;  but  still  I  think  that  a  good  Clavichord, 
saving  its  weaker  tone,  -has  all  the  beauties  of  the  other,  and  has 
the  further  advantage  of  the  Behnng  and  the  sustained  tone;  because, 
after  striking,  I  can  press  down  on  any  note.  The  clavichord  is 
therefore  the  instrument,  on  which  one  can  most  accurately  test  a 
clavierist."  Emanuel  Bach  had  to  suffer  many  vexations  from  the 
critics  of  the  period;  they  upbraided  him  on  the  score  of  a  light, 
unscholarly  style— though  the  same  that  such  masters  as  Haydn  and 
Mozart  took  as  a  model — and  also  the  daring  harmonies,  which  then 
were  held  to  be  harshnesses,  and  which  oui'  science  of  harmony  and 
modulation  later  multiplied  and  extended.  In  1773  Dr.  Burney  met 
him  in  Hamburg,  and  was  of  the  opinion  that  even  his  enemies 
would  have  been  reconciled  with  those  freer  compositions,  could 
they  have  heard  them  executed  by  their  author  on  his  Silbermann 
Clavichord,  with  the  tenderness  and  vivacity  peculiar  to  himself. 
Emanuel  himself  said,  that  he  had  always  striven  to  write  melodiously 
("smginglp")  for  the  clavier,  and  to  touch  the  heart  by  his  delivery. 
At  that  time,  the  attacks  alluded  to  no  longer  troubled  him;  for— be 
observes  —  since  I  was  fifty  I  have  given  up  all  ambition,  and  wish 
to  live  in  peace,  as  I  do  not  know  how  near  my  end  may  be. 

The  following  musicians,  who  will  find  mention  later,  were 
among  Emanuel's  most  distinguished  pupils:— Johann  Wilhelm  Hassler 
(1747—1822),  Nicolaus  Joseph  Hullmandel  (1751—1823),  and  his 
younger  brother  Johann  Christian  Bach,  the  latter  requiring  special 
notice  here.  —  He  was  born  in  Leipzig,  1735,  and  went  after  his 
father's  death  to  his  brother  Emanuel  in  Berlin,  to  be  taught  by  him 
in  clavier -playing  and  composition.  In  the  year  1754  he  journeyed 
to  Milan,  where  he  became  organist  of  the  principal  church,  pro- 
ceeded thenee  in  1759  to  London,  on  receiving  an   appointment  as 


—     62     — 

Director  of  Concerts,   and   died   there   in  1782.     His  clavier -works, 
which  were  printed  in  London,  Berlin,  Amsterdam,  and  Paris,  em- 
brace 18  Clavier  Concertos,  28  Clavier  Trios,  a  Sonata  for  2  Harpsi- 
chords,  another   for   four   hands,   and  12  Sonatas   for   Clavier  solo. 
To   him  Gerber   chiefly  ascribes,   in  1790,   the   gi*eater   increase   of 
clavier  amateurs  of  both   sexes   in   his   time;   for   "the   naive   play- 
fulness, the  vivacious  joyfulness,  which  mark  all  his  clavier -works, 
have   won  him   the   favor  of  both   sexes   of  every  nationality,   and 
one    of  his   works   was   hardly   out,    when    the    hands    of   all   the 
amateurs    were    busied   with   it".  —  An   edition   of  his   Sonatas   lies 
before    me    without    place    of   publication,     entitled:     "Six    Sonates 
pour  le  Clavecin   ou    le  Pianoforte,    dediees  a  S.  A.  le  Due  Ernest 
de  Mecklenbourg  etc..   Major  general  des  armees  de  S.  M.  Britan- 
nique;   comp.  par  Jean  Chretien  Bach,  maitre  de  musique   de  S.  M. 
la   reine  d'Angleterre.     OEuvi-e  V."     From  the  dedication,   and  also 
from  the  costly  title-page,  drawn  by  Cipriani  and  engraved  by  Bar- 
tolozzi  (both  these  celebrated  artists  had  lived  in  London  since  1764), 
it  is  apparent  that  these  Sonatas  were  published  during  his  stay  in 
London.     They  not  only  justify  the  favorable  reception  accorded  to 
his  compositions  whenever  published,  but  are,  besides,  remarkable  for 
the  fact,  that  here  the  first  theme  of  the  Sonatas  is  followed,  per- 
haps for  the  first  time,  by  a  distinctly  marked  second  theme.     E.  g. 
the   second  Sonata   begins  with   an  Allegro  molto   in  D.     The  fii'st 
theme  of  four  measures  is  repeated,  and  the  bass  then  stands  out  in 
relief  against   a  more  animated  accompaniment   in   the   right  hand, 
modulates  through  the  dominant  chord  of  the  seventh  B-d'^-f'^-a  to 
JE'-major,  forming  an  episode,  after  which  the  second  theme,  entirely 
different  from  the  first,  begins  in  J.-major;  it  ends  in  the  same  key 
after  sixteen  measures,  and  a  distinctly  marked  coda  of  four  mea- 
sures, which   are   repeated,    closes   the   first   division   in   the   above- 
named  key  of  the  dominant.     The  short  developments  of  the  second 
division  touch  5-minor  in  particular,  and  the  first  theme  of  the  So- 
nata again  appears  after  a  modulation  to  the  principal  key;  the  se- 
cond theme  and  the  coda  are  then  repeated  again,  as  in  the  firr^t 
division,  but  now  in  D-major.     Immanuel  Faisst,  in  his  excellent 
"Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  Claviersonate"  (Cacilia,  Vol.  26,  p.  21), 
mentions  various  composers  of  that  time,  in  particular  Emanuel  Bach, 
in  whose  sonatas  a  second  theme  likewise  seems  to  be  recognizable 
at  times;   but  in  Johaun  Christian  Bach's  sonatas  this  latter  is  intro- 
duced and  brought  to  a  close  with  such  distinctness,  that  they  already 


—     G3     — 

exhibit  precisely  the  form  later  consistently  adopted  by  Mozart  for  the 
same.  The  comhinatioii  of  the  movements  in  the  Sonata  still  varies 
greatly  in  the  "London  Bach's"  works;  for  instance,  the  first  of  the 
above  sonatas  consists  of  an  Allegretto  and  a  Tempo  di  3Iinuetto, 
both  in  JB-major;  the  second,  of  an  Allegro  di  molto  in  D-major,  an 
Andante  in  G^-major,  and  a  Minuetto  in  D-major;  the  third  unites  an 
Allegro  in  G^-major  to  an  Allegretto  with  variations,  in  the  same  key;, 
the  fourth  gives  an  Allegro  and  a  Rondo  in  £l?-major;  the  fifth,  an 
Allegro  assai  in  £'-major,  an  Adagio  in  Xmajor,  and  a  Prestissimo 
in  £'-major;  and  the  sixth,  a  Grave,  a  fugued  Allegro  moderato,  and 
an  Allegretto  in  C-minor. 

We  close  the  first  Section,  devoted  to  the  Clavichord,   of  this 
historical  sketch  with  a  glance  at  that  city,  which  was  soon  to  rise 
to  the  position  of  a  focus  for  all  the  musical  life  of  Europe.     Like 
Sebastian  Bach   and,   in   particular,   his   two   sons  Friedemaun   and 
Emanuel  in  North   Germany,    there  labored  in  Vienna   the   eminent 
theoretician,  and  composer  for  the  church  and  opera,  Johann  Joseph 
Fux   (1660 — 1741),    whose   teachings   and   Avorks    systematized   and 
propagated  the  Art  of  Counterpoint  committed  by  the  Netherlauders 
to  the  hands  of  the  Italians,  and  further  developed  by  the  latter  and 
the  Germans.    One  of  his  most  talented  pupils  was  Gottlieb  Muffat, 
whose  "Componimenti  musieali  per  il  cembalo"  (Vienna,  1727)  and 
other  Suites,  Toccatas,  and  Fugues  left  in  manuscript,  are  among  the 
most  valuable  clavier-pieces  of  that  period;  and  also  Georg  Christopli 
Wagenseil  (1688 — 1779),  then  in  high  estimation,   more  especially 
on   account   of  his   "Sinfonien   furs  Clavier   mit   zwei  Violinen   und 
Bass",  printed  in  Vienna  as  Op.  4,  etc.,   who  is  said  still  to  have' 
played  on  the  clavichord  with  great  fire  when  in  his  eighty-fourtk 
year,  and  to  have  still  given  lessons  on  the  same.    Besides  the  above 
works   there   were   published   by   him   "Suavis   artificiose   elaboratus 
ooncentus  musicus,  continens  VI  parthias  selectas  ad  clavioymbalum 
compositas",   Bamberg,  about  1740;    "VI  Divertimenti  da  Cembalo", 
Op.  1,   Vienna;    similar   pieces   as   Op.  2   and  3;    and   further,   Six 
Clavier   Sonatas   with   Violin,   Op.  5,   Paris,    where   several   of   his 
•Sinfonies"  were  also  engraved.    Johann  Wanhal  (1739 — 1813)  also 
lived  in  Vienna   at  this  time,   and  from   about   1760  to   1780  was 
accounted  one  of  the  most  favorite  fashionable  composers,  as  in  his 
compositions  he  employed  scales,  broken  chords,  and  other  exercises, 
familiar    even    to   mediocre   players,    for   passages,    which    sounded 
brilliant  and  bold  in  the   ears  of  dilettanti.     His  numerous  compo- 


—     64     — 

sitions,  among  wliicli  are  found  some  contrapuntal  works  in  clavier 
style  and  several  text-books  much  prized  at  the  time,  include  the 
following:  3  Caprices,  Op.  14,  Amsterdam,  Hummel;  ditto  Op.  31, 
35,  etc.,  Vienna,  publ.  by  Cappi,  Artaria,  and  Steiner;  36  Progressive 
Clavier -pieces.  Op.  41,  Leipzig,  Peters;  3  Congratulatory  Sonatas, 
Bonn,  Simrock;  12  Fugues,  ditto;  Sonate  militaire,  Offenbach,  Andre; 
"Die  Friedensfeier"  (Celebration  of  Peace),  characteristic  Sonata,  Bonn. 
Simrock;  and  some  70  books  of  Variations.  His  compositions  issued 
after  1790,  however,  show  at  least  in  form,  if  not  in  spirit, 
the  influence  of  the  masters  of  the  following  period  of  clavier- 
playing. —  The  Sonatas  and  other  clavier  -  pieces  of  the  Prussian 
Kapellmeister  Johann  Friedrich  Reichardt  (1752 — 1814),  celebrated 
for  his  compositions  and  musical  writings,  plainly  exhibit  the  endeavor 
to  endow  the  pieces  with  a  definite  character.  Their  style  is  pure, 
and  suited  to  the  clavier,  and  they  already  reach  over,  like  those  of 
the  composers  named  above,  into  the  later  history  of  clavier-playing. 

New  editions  of  clavier-works  pertinent  to  our  subject  have  been 
issued  by  the  following  publishers: 

Breitkopf  &  UAKTEU—Benda,  G.,  Largo  and  Presto;  Hdss- 
ler,  J.  W.,  Op.  13,  14,  each  having  3  Sonatas,  Op.  17,  Fantasia  and 
Sonata  in  (r-minor;  Easy  Sonatas,  books  1,  2  3,  and  4,  each  having 
3  Sonatas;  Kvnibcrger,  Fugue  in  two  and  three  parts;  Kulman,  Joh., 
Sonata;  Marpurg,  Capriccio;  Mattheson,  Double  Fugues  with  two  and 
three  subjects,— Bartholf  S>knff:~ KiiJmati,  Joh.,  Suite  in  E-mmov; 
Mattheson,  Suite  in  ^-major.  —  Leuckart  (Leipzig): — C.  Fh.  Em. 
Bach,  6  series  of  Clavier  Sonatas,  Rondos,  and  Free  Fantasias  for 
Connoisseurs  and  Amateurs. — Rieter-Biedermann: — Reichardt,  J. 
Fricdr.,  3  Sonatas,  Rondo,  "naiver  Scherz",  and  Andantino. — Further 
we  should  mention  the  Collections  "Classische  Studien"  (Fischhof,  con- 
tinued by  Zellner)  publ.  by  Haslinger;  "Alte  Claviermusik"  (Roitsch) 
publ.  by  Peters;  and  "Les  maitres  du  clavecin"  (Louis  Kohler)  in 
Collection  Litolff,  which  contain  valuable  compositions  by  all  the 
Masters  hitherto  named. 

C.  H.  Bitter,  already  mentioned  as  the  author  of  a  biographical 
work  on  Joh.  Seb.  Bach,  had  published  by  W.  Miiller  in  Berlin,  1868: 
"Carl  Philipp  Emanuel  und  Wilhelm  Friedemann  Bach  und  deren 
Brtider",  2  Vols. 

As  an  Appendix  to  this  first  Section  we  now  subjoin  a  brief 
account  of  the  Dance-melodies  in  vogue  during  the  16th,  17th,  and 
18th  centuries,    several    of  which  have   been  named    already.     The 


—     65     — 

observations  on  the  character  of  these  earlier  folk-tunes  apply  to  the 
primitive,  original  compositions,  which  were  really  danced  to,  and 
also  occasionally  sung.  Later  composers,  who  employed  such  forms 
for  execution  on  the  clavier  or  any  other  instrument,  gave  free  rein 
to  their  imagination,  lengthened  out  the  short  dance-tunes,  lent  them 
greater  variety  of  rhythm,  and  thus  changed  their  character  to  one 
no  longer  corresponding  to  the  original.  Wandering  minstrels  carried 
the  ancient  folk-songs  from  one  land  to  another;  but  these  airs  were 
differently  apprehended  by  different  nations,  and  reproduced,  when 
imitated  or  arranged,  in  a  style  which  probably  no  longer  showed 
the  original  features  of  the  prototype.  This  circumstance  explains 
the  contradictions  with  which  we  meet  in  modern  writings  occupy- 
ing themselves  with  this  topic;  and  at  the  same  time  furnishes 
an  excuse  for  the  divergence  between  later  arrangements  of  such 
earlier  forms. 

The  earlier  Dance-forms. 

In  Germany,  as  in  Italy  and  France,  the  first  instrumental  com- 
positions were  mere  echoes  of  sacred  or  secular  vocal  works.  Folk- 
dances  harmonically  arranged,  and  designed  for  instrumental  music 
alone,  then  followed,  the  melodies  of  which  had  long  been  familiar 
to  the  fiddlers  of  all  countries,  often  reinforced  by  singing,  especially 
when  the  dance  tunes  were  founded  on  popular  folk-songs.  The 
compositions  contained  in  the  earliest  collections  of  such  harmonically 
accompanied  dance -melodies  were  intended  for  playing  as  dance- 
tunes.  In  an  extended  form,  however,  they  had  found  favor  since 
the  17th  century  simply  as  instrumental  pieces,  and  cultivated  until 
toward  the  end  of  the  18th,  particularly  as  choice  combinations  in 
the  so-called  Suites  or  Partite.  The  finest  among  the  dance -forms 
occurring  in  them  are  characterized  as  follows  by  earlier  writers: 

The  Allemande  portrays  a  contented  mind;  its  harmonies  are 
serious,  well- chosen,  and  carefully  developed;  it  has  two  reprises  of 
nearly  equal  length,  usually  with  an  auftaJct  of  varying  proportion, 
and  its  rhythm  is  a  ^/^  measure  in  Tempo  moderate.  The  Corrente 
or  Courante,  in  %  or  moderate  "/^  time,  disports  itself  in  pleasing  and 
delicate  runs,  and  its  melody  expresses  hope,  yearning,  and  desire; 
it  consists  of  a  shorter  and  a  longer  reprise,  begins  with  a  short 
anftaJct,  and  closes  on  the  thesis.  The  Sarabande  comes  forward 
full  of  earnestness  and  grandesza,  in  ternary  (triple)  time,  and  has 
two   divisions   of  eight   measures   each.     Its   melody  always   begins 

5 


—     66     — 

on  the  full  measure,  but  as  a  rule  closes  on  the  third  beat.  Its 
short,  expressive  melody,  with  a  range  of  but  few  tones,  is  well 
adapted  for  variations,  to  which  end  one  old  melody  of  this  dance, 
^•Folies  d'Espagne",  was  later  used,  in  particular,  again  and  again, 
e.  g.  by  Dominico  Scarlatti.  The  French  Gigue  or  Gique  sometimes 
appears  in  ^/^  time,  with  an  auftakt  and  following  dotted  quarter- 
note,  or  in  ^/s  ^^^^1  with  an  auftakt  and  following  dotted  eighth-note 
on  the  arsis.  The  Italian  Giga,  now  beginning  with  the  full  measure, 
now  with  a  short  or  long  auftakt,  has  a  well -sustained  rhythm  and 
rapid  tempo,  affecting  the  following  times:  ^s?  ^^'  ^Isi  ^^  ^^k-  "^^^^ 
dances  here  described  formed,  in  the  above  or  a  similar  succession, 
a  so-called  Suite.  To  these  a  Frehtde,  an  Overture,  a  Symphony  (at 
that  time  an  harmonic  prelude),  an  Intrada,  a  Toccata,  a  Capriccio, 
or  some  other  piece  was  subsequently  prefixed  as  an  Introduction, 
the  choice  of  the  dances  being  left  to  the  pleasure  of  the  composer, 
except  the  lively  Giga,  which  usually  formed  the  close.  In  this 
extended  shape  the  Suites  were  also  called  Sonatas,  or  more  de- 
finitely Senate  da  camera,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  more  serious 
instrumental  pieces  called  Sonate  da  chiesa.  However,  the  several 
movements  of  a  Suite  or  Partita  showed  not  only  an  external  con- 
nection, in  that  they  all  moved  within  one  and  the  same  key  and 
exhibited,  in  their  simple  or  more  artistic  working  out,  a  certain 
mutual  resemblance;  they  were  likewise  bound  together  in  intelligible 
internal  unity  by  a  definite  character  assumed  and  maintained  through- 
out, and  by  a  tranquil,  joyous,  agitated,  or  passionate  mood  attaining 
to  expression  in  all  these  various  forms.  Hereby  the  Suite  was  first 
raised  to  a  siguificant  work  of  art,  finally  developed  by  Sebastian 
Bach  to  perfect  beauty. 

Other  earlier  Dances,  sometimes  appearing  separately,  sometimes 
in  the  Suites  or  Clavier- exercises,  or  even  as  elements  of  a  Sonata 
for  the  Clavier,  are  the  following:  The  Minuet.  It  was  a  dignified 
and  refined  movement  in  -74  time.  The  melody  of  the  same,  always 
beginning  and  closing  on  the  metrical  climax  of  the  full  measure 
(thesis),  at  first  consisted  of  two  reprises,  each  of  four  or  eight 
measures,  the  four -measure  grouping  being  strongly  marked.  The 
first  division  sometimes  closed  in  the  principal  key,  and  was  repeated 
after  the  second,  which  closed  in  a  key  related  to  the  first.  The 
principal  melody  was  often  followed  by  a  second  Minuet  in  a  related 
key,  after  wliich  the  first  was  repeated.  Sometimes  a  third  Minuet 
in  a  related  key  followed,   the  principal   theme  then   being  finals 


6n 
I         

repeated.  Such  secondary  diAdsions  were  either  termed  Miniietto 
2  and  3,  or  a  single  second  minuet  was  named  Alternativo,  and  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  18th  century  Trio  as  well,  because,  as  many 
examples  at  hand  prove,  this  movement  was  worked  out  strictly  in 
three  parts;  a  circumstance  not  always  taken  into  account  even  then, 
despite  which  the  second  movement  was  called,  as  to-day,  a  Trio. 
Instead  of  Alternativo,  Double  was  written,  when  the  second  theme 
formed  merely  a  variation  of  the  first,  retaining  the  harmony  of  the 
same.  Brossard  observes:  The  orig:inal  Minuet  which  came  to  us 
from  Poitou,  is  a  very  rapid  and  merry  dance  in  %  or  %  time;  it 
consisted  of  two  parts  that  were  repeated,  and  always  closed  on  the 
first  beat. —  The  term  Tempo  di  Minuetto,  however,  meant  the  tran- 
quilly measured  movement  characteristic  of  the  fii*st-mentioned  dance 
of  this  name  as  performed  in  social  festivities;  whereas  the  instru- 
mental minuet  afterwards  introduced  into  the  sonata,  and  not  used 
in  dancing,  usually  bore  the  gay  character  of  the  dance  derived  from 
Poitou.  The  Entree  is  a  short  introduction  to  the  following  dance. 
The  March  (la  marche)  should  be  given,  according  to  its  design, 
now  with  solemn  gravity,  now  pointedly  marked,  rustically  frolicsome, 
or  lightly  and  rapidly,  but  never  toyingly  or  frivolously.  The  Loure, 
beginning  with  an  auftakt  or  on  a  dotted  first  note  of  a  measure,  is 
danced  very  seriously  and  slowly.  The  rhythm  of  the  Gavotte, 
usually  in  alia  hreve  time  (%),  is  to  be  distinctly  marked  in  the 
moderate  tempo.  The  melody  begins  on  the  second  half  of  the 
measure,  i.  e.  with  two  quarter-notes,  and  consists  of  a  reprise, 
closing  on  the  first  beat  in  a  related  key,  and  a  following  reprise  of 
eight  measures,  closing  in  the  principal  key.  The  Bourree,  in 
^/^  time  and  with  two  reprises,  each  of  four  measures,  always  begins 
with  an  auftakt  of  a  quarter -note,  usually  followed  by  a  rhythm  of 
a  quarter-note  and  two  eighths  sustained  throughout.  The  Rigaudon 
(Riggadoon)  is  a  merry  or  grotesque  dance  set  in  ^j^  time  and  be- 
ginning on  the  last  quarter,  having  3  or  4  reprises,  whose  shorter 
and  most  singular  third  part  falls  in  as  if  by  chance,  often  appear- 
ing in  a  lower  register  and  without  proper  close,  so  that  the  more 
regular  part  following  may  have  a  more  surprising  effect.  The  Passe- 
pied  (Paspy),  in  ^/g  or  ^/g  time,  generally  begins  with  an  eighth-note 
in  the  auftakt,  and  has  three  or  four  reprises  in  an  even  number  of 
measures,  the  third,  as  in  the  Rigaudon,  being  short  and  toying  or 
dallying.  The  form  of  the  Ronde,  a  rustic  round  dance,  is  employed 
in   binary   or   ternary  measure   in   pieces   for   dancing,   playing,   or 

5* 


—     68     — 

singing.  Its  lively  principal  theme  ends  in  the  principal  key.  This 
is  followed  by  2,  3,  4,  or  more  "Couplets"  in  related  keys,  after 
each  of  which  the  first  melody,  which  also  closes  the  piece,  is 
repeated  as  a  refrain.  Among  other  dances  in  this  form  is  the 
Branle,  a  joyous,  rural  round  dance,  the  short  melody  of  which 
serves  as  a  close  to  each  of  the  succeeding  different  couplets.  The 
Canarie,  in  ^/g  time,  is  a  Gigue  of  a  very  vivacious  and  skipping 
character,  whose  first  measure-note  is  almost  invariably  dotted. 

The  Pastorale  in  ^s  time,  and  the  Villanella,  are  jocimd  rural 
dances  with  an  airy,  pleasing  melody,  as  are  likewise  the  Musette 
(bagpipe)  and  the  Tambourin.  The  last  two  have  the  tonic,  or  else 
the  tonic  and  dominant,  as  sustained  toue(s)  in  the  bass;  but  while 
the  Musette  runs  on  easily  in  ^/g  time,  the  Tambourin  (accompanied 
by  the  instrument  of  that  name)  is  executed  in  very  lively  ^/^  time, 
with  an  auftakt  of  two  quarter  notes  or  two  eighth  -  notes.  The 
Ciacona  or  Chaconne  is  a  longer  dance-piece,  almost  always  in 
major  and  in  ^/^  time  of  moderate  progression,  in  which  a  basso 
ohUigato  usually  consisting  of  four  measures,  and  beginning  the  piece 
alone,  is  continually  repeated  as  a  basso  ostinato,  to  which  variations 
of  all  kinds  are  executed.  The  Passacaglia  or  Passecaille  (Germ. 
Gassenhauer)  is  9  similar  dance  oi"  gentler  character  and  slower 
movement,  invariably  in  minor  and  in  ^/^  time,  which  is  likewise 
founded  on  a  lasso  ostinato,  whose  volksthiimliche*  melody  may, 
however,  be  taken  up  by  the  soprano  or  a  middle  part  during  the 
course  of  the  piece.  The  Pavane  or  Paduane  was  a  stately  dance 
moving  seriously  and  deliberately  in  alia  breve  time,  often  followed 
in  sharp  contrast  by  the  Gagliarda  or  Gaillarde  (formerly  called 
Romanesca,  ace.  to  Brossard  and  Eousseau) — romping,  with  dotted 
notes,  and  strongly  marked,  beginning  with  the  full  tripartite  measure. 
The  Volta  was  a  sort  of  Gagliarda  in  ^^  time,  and,  like  this  latter, 
a  very  lively  dance.  The  easy,  tranquil  strain  of  the  Passa mezzo 
was  frequently  followed  by  the  Furia,  with  fiery  accentuation  and 
sometimes  8hari)ly  dissonant  tones.  The  Siciliano,  in  ^s  ^^^^  ^ith 
dotted  initial  measure -notes,  displayed  a  rural,  unaffected  style; 
whereas  the  Venetian  Forlana,  having  the  same  rhythm  and  similar 
dotted  notes,  was  always  performed  in  a  brisk  movement.  The  hot 
blood  of  Southern  Italy  is  strikingly  manifested  in  the  native  dances. 


♦  A  volksthumliches  Lied  is  a  product  of  art  in  the  style  of  the  folk-song. 

Transl.  Note. 


(jy    — 


The  Saltarello  in  ^/^  time,  with  its  reckless  leaps,  begins  on  the  full 
measure,  and  progresses,  with  few  exceptions,  in  the  rhythm  of  a 
half- note  followed  by  a  quarter.  The  earlier  examples  in  my  pos- 
session were,  however,  probably  performed  in  very  quick  tempo,  so 
that  their  rhythm  would  be  more  plainly  expressed  by  i*  C  I  i*  C 
ov  hj  p  •/  f  I  J  •?  *•  The  wild  Tarantella  in  minor,  in  %  ^^^^  ^i*^ 
an  auftakt  of  three  eighth -notes,  was  danced  by  a  youthful  pair. 
It  commences  in  agitated,  yearning  strains.  But  the  movement  grows 
more  and  more  animated,  increasing  in  rapidity  toward  the  end  until 
the  dancers  are  quite  exhausted.  The  effect  of  this  dance  is  further 
enhanced  by  the  sweeping  accompaniment  of  the  guitar  (chitarra) 
and  the  booming,  jingling  tambourin.  Sometimes  the  tarantella  is 
also  sung  and  danced  in  Italy  by  young  girls,  when  its  Bacchantie 
character  is  changed  to  youthful  joyousness  and  mischievousness. 

An  interesting  example  of  the  Moresca  (Moorish  dance)  often 
alluded  to  in  the  16  th  century  and  later,  is  given  by  Kiesewetter 
("Schicksale  des  weltlichen  Gesanges",  p.  104  of  the  Appendices); 
the  same  forms,  as  a  dance -number,  the  close  of  the  opera  "Orfea" 
by  Monteverde.  The  highest  part  takes  the  principal  melody,  while 
four  accompanying  parts  support  the  same  with  simple  chords: 


i 


:j^=3^ 


:* 


-t:-- 


-•-- 


t^ 


• — ^- — ^^ — -41 


The  repeat  indicated  here  is  not,  however,  executed  in  unison, 
but  in  sequences.  The  melody  is  first  repeated  a  fourth  higher 
(d"— g"  etc.),  then  a  second  higher  than  at  first  (b'— e"  etc.),  and 
finally  a  fifth  higher  than  the  piece  began  (e"— a"  etc.),  where- 
upon the  entire  piece  is  repeated.  Quite  different  from  this  appears 
"La  Morisqiie,  basse  danse"  in  the  work  by  Tielmann  Susato,  printed 

at  Antwerp  in  1551:    "Het  derde   musyck   boexken daer   inne 

begrepen  alderhande  danserye"  etc.     Here  the  melody  runs: 


i=^^ 


n] 


<&i- 


:t=t: 


::l: 


i 


sr 


73" 


S^^^3^ 


-(C^- 


:±=t: 


m 


etc. 


—     70     — 

Tielman  Susato's  dauces  are  arranged  in  four  parts,  and  the 
soprano  is  accompanied  harmonically  or  "note  against  note"  in  just 
the  same  simple  style  as  in  most  collections  of  dances  of  the  16  th 
and  17  th  centuries. 

About  the  middle  of  the  18  th  century,  the  Polonaises  attained 
to  high  favor  in  Germany.  The  original  dance-melodies  of  this  kind 
always  begin  on  the  full  measure  in  ^/^  time,  often  dot  and  accent 
the  second  quarter,  progress  with  a  strong,  majestic  movement,  and 
form  the  close  of  each  division,  with  rare  exceptions,  by  an  eighth- 
note  and  tAVO  sixteenth-uotes,  or  four  sixteenths  and  a  marked  quarter- 
note,  which  progresses  as  leading-note  or  second  to  the  closing  tonio 
then  following: 

At  nearly  the  same  period,  short  pieces  for  clavier  and  voice, 
usually  in  ^/^  time,  were  transiently  in  vogue  under  the  name  of 
Murky.  Their  peculiarity  resided  in  a  persistent  bass  in  broken 
octaves  (16th-notes),  which  accompanied  the  whole  insignificant  trifle. 
The  term  "mui-ky  bass"  is  still  used  to  designate  basses  of  a  like 
sprawling  progression. 

A.  Czerwinski  has  an  interesting  chapter  on  the  dances  of  the 
Germans  in  his  "Greschichte  der  Tanzkunst"  (History  of  the  Art  of 
Dancing),  Leipzig,  J.  J,  Weber,  1862.  He  describes  the  mediaeval 
Sclireittdnze  or  Schleiftdnze,  whose  slow  steps  were  necessitated  by 
the  long  trains  then  worn  by  the  ladies,  and  the  rustic  Springtdnze 
or  BeiJien,  Avhereiu  ihe  dancers  of  both  sexes  sought  to  outvie  each 
other  in  the  height  and  length  of  their  leaps.  The  author  finds  the 
origin  of  the  waltz  in  the  opera  "Una  cosa  rara",  by  Vincenz  Martin, 
performed  at  Vienna  in  1787,  in  which  four  ladies  executed  a  dance 
with  such  great  applause,  that  it  was  speedily  introduced  into  the 
higher  social  circles,  and  received  the  name  of  "cosa  rara".  Later 
it  was  called  Langaus,  Ldndler,  Viennese   Walts,  or  "Deutscher". 

The  German  dances  contained  in  the  earliest  German  "Orgel- 
und  Instrument- TabulaturbUchern"  (Tabulatur  Books  for  Organ  and 
Clavier)  by  Ammerbach  (1571),  B.  Schmid  (1577),  and  J.  Paix  (1583), 
viz,  "Herzog  Moritz  Tans"  (^/^),  with  a  Naclitanz  (Proportio,  */J, 
"Hiipfauf"  (^Z^),  "Bruder  Cunrad  Tansmaass"  (^1^)  with  NacJitans  (7^), 
HoppcUanz,  etc.,  seem  to  be  merely  isolated  examples,  and  not  to 
have  come  into  general  use. 


—     71     — 

The  more  serious  Allemande,  however,  already  appears  in  the 
above  book  by  Tielman  Susato  (Amsterdam,  1551),  and  was  elaborated 
with  peculiar  care  in  the  Suites  down  to  the  middle  of  the  18  th  cen- 
tury. The  artistic  Allemandes  of  Sebastian  Bach  and  his  contempo- 
raries, like  all  the  dance-forms  found  in  their  Suites,  had  for  a  long 
time  not  been  intended  as  accompaniments  to  actual  dances,  the 
proper  destination  of  the  dance-melodies  of  the  16th  and  17th  cen- 
turies, harmonized  with  simple  chords.  A  specimen  from  Susato's 
coUeotion  described  aboye  will  illustrate  this: 


VIII.    Allemaigne. 


^-jT-i   J  I  ^/     >)-'^W-'i=^3=33^ 


1^^ 


j-^— ^^-^44=^  Jlj  J 


r~r 


^ 


e>  i*_^  '  &> 


The  Germans  have  never  been  prominent  as  inventors  or  reformers 
in  the  field  of  dance -music;  they  had  a  higher  mission.  In  like 
manner  as  the  counterpoint  of  the  Netherlanders  and  Italians  was 
first  suffused  with  life  and  warmth  by  the  G-ermans,  Sebastian  Bach 
elevated  it  in  his  master-piece,  the  Fugue,  to  a  height  which  will 
hardly  be  again  attainable  in  future.  Through  the  Germans  the 
Sonata,  too,  first  gained  living  expression,  and  attained  to  fullest 
perfection  at  the  hands  of  Beethoven.  In  this  Master's  works,  all 
phases  of  emotion  find  idealization  and  tranquilization;  they  make 
us  forget  the  dark  side  of  every- day  life,  and  discover  the  bright 
regions  of  an  ideal  world  filled  with  love,  where  longing  is  unknown 
— thus  grasping  the  mission  of  Music  in  its  fullest  meaning,  and 
affording  the  only  satisfactory  solution  possible  of  the  same. 


THE  MODERN  HISTORY  OF  CLAVIER-PLAYING. 


Tlxo    Fortepiano. 


ni.  The  Lyrical  Clavier  Style. 


Joseph  Haydn  and  Wolfgang  Mozart. 

The  Fugue,  progressing  according  to  strict  rule  and  in  mono- 
ehromatie  seriousness,  combining  within  itself  the  whole  art  of  counter- 
point, was  opposed,  through  the  efforts  of  Emanuel  Bach,  the  head 
of  the  Earlier  German  Clavier  school,  by  the  more  brilliantly  hued 
and  freer  form  of  the  Sonata.  With  masterful  energy  he  committed 
nearly  80  such  compositions  for  the  clavier  alone  to  the  press;  and 
the  peculiar  mission  of  the  masters  following  him  consisted  in  devel- 
oping the  Sonata-form— which  was  soon  accepted  for  all  compositions 
of  larger  scope,  like  the  Symphony,  the  Concerto,  the  Quartet,  etc. — 
to  a  form  perfectly  in  accord  with  the  universal  laws  of  beauty,  and 
thus  to  raise  it  to  a  master -piece  of  the  freer  style  of  composition. 
Like  every  reformer,  Emanuel  Bach  did  not  escape  vexatious  attacks 
from  his  contemporaries,  but  in  amends  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
numbering  the  most  liberal-minded  of  the  same  among  his  intimate 
friends  and  admirers.  For  instance,  the  celebrated  writer  of  musical 
history,  Forkel,  in  his  "Musikalischer  Almanach"  for  1783,  notices 
the  first  three  Collections  of  Clavier  Sonatas  for  Connoisseurs  and 
Amateurs  by  C.  P.  E.  Bach  as  follows:  "The  author  is  noted  as  a 
man,  cujus  glorise  neque  profuit  quisquam  laudando,  nee  vituperando 
quisquam  nocuit";  and  in  the  following  yearly  volume  (pp.  22—38) 
Forkel  furnishes  a  profound  paper  on  the  JP-mlnor  Sonata  in  the  third 
of  these  Collections.  Joseph  Haydn,  the  musician  whose  work  we  next 
have  to  consider,  also  confesses:  "Whatever  I  know,  I  owe  to  Carl 
Philipp  Emanuel  Bach!"  — and  Mozart,  too,  renders  him  his  due  in 
the  words:  "He  is  the  father,  we  are  the  boys;  whichever  of  us  can 
do  anything  well,  learned  it  of  him!"  When  Emanuel  Bach  died  at 
Hamburg  in  his  74  th  year,  his  younger  contemporaries  Haydn,  Mozart. 


—     76     — 

and  Beethoven  were  56,  32,  and  18  years  old  respectively.  The 
circumstance,  that  these  three  musicians,  revered  both  in  their  time 
and  ours,  made  Vienna  their  permanent  residence— Haydn  from  1740, 
Beethoven  from  1770,  and  Mozart  from  1781  —  explains  to  us,  how 
this  capital,  rendered  so  attractive  by  its  art-loving  nobility  and  the 
graceful  ease  of  its  society,  and  so  favored  by  its  agreeable  situation, 
should  have  become  the  cradle  of  all  the  reforms  of  the  following 
period  in  the  history  of  our  art. 

Joseph  Haydn  was  born  on  March  31,  1732,  at  Eohrau  in 
Lower  Austria,  and  on  account  of  his  remarkable  musical  talent  was 
already  engaged  as  a  choir-boy,  in  his  eighth  year,  in  the  principal 
church  at  Vienna.  Here  he  enjoyed  thorough  instruction  in  singing, 
and  on  the  clavier  and  violin,  besides  which  he  learned,  in  his 
solitary  chamber,  the  laws  of  counterpoint  from  Fux's  Gracilis  ad 
Tarnassum.  The  first  clavier-works  of  importance  with  which  he 
became  acquainted,  and  which  were  likewise  destined  to  give  his 
exercises  a  new  direction,  were  6  sonatas  by  C.  P.  E.  Bach.  He 
played  them  unwearyingly  again  and  again,  and  remarked  later,  that 
he  had  most  zealously  studied  this  master's  style  and  striven  to  imitate 
it.  In  Vienna  he  was  early  occupied  in  giving  music  lessons,  and 
the  first  clavier  sonatas,  which  he  wrote  for  his  pupils,  were  soon 
spread  abroad  in  innumerable  copies,  and  were  even  published  in 
print  without  his  knowledge,  an  author's  proprietorship  then  being 
protected  in  no  way.  But  through  these  so  favorably  received  com- 
positions he  gained  access  as  a  teacher  to  the  highest  circles,  and 
likewise,  through  the  very  numerous  violin-quartets  composed  by  him, 
which  attracted  no  less  attention,  to  the  best  musical  societies  of  the 
capital.  After  1760  his  compositions  also  became  known  beyond  the 
limits  of  Vienna;  the  freshness  and  vivacity  of  their  naive  style  gave 
pleasure  everywhere,  though  loud  complaints  were  not  wanting,  that 
music  was  thereby  debased  to  comic  ti'ifling  and  that  they  contained 
many  incorrectnesses  and  forbidden  octaves  (doublings  of  a  melody, 
now  long  ago  "permitted").  In  the  year  1773  Emanuel  Bach  ob- 
served, referring  to  the  character  of  the  then  rising  tide  of  new 
music,  which  even  his  liberality  thought  dangerous  to  the  dignity  of 
musical  art:  "Who  does  not  know  the  time,  at  which  music  and  its 
performance  entered  into  a  new  phase  and  rose  to  a  height  which, 
as  I  feel  it,  was  productive  of  harm.  I  hold,  with  many  clear- 
sighted men",  he  cries,  "that  the  comic  feature  now  in  such  vogue 
bears  most  blame  in  this".    It  is  also  apparent,  that  we  owe  to  our 


—     77     — 

Haydn  the  introduction  of  the  fancifully  humorous  style,  unknown 
before,  from  a  characterization  of  this  master  in  the  ''Musikalisches 
Handbuch"  for  1782,  where  we  read,  on  pag.  19  etc.:  Haydn,  "Musical 
jester,  but  not,  like  Yorik  (sic),  for  pathos,  but  for  broad  comedy; 
and  this  is  desperately  hard  in  music.  —  Even  his  Adagio's,  where 
one  should  properly  weep,  often  bear  the  stamp  of  broad  comedy. 
Haydn  once  was  chidden  by  the  Berlinese  for  the  incorrectnesses  of 
his  style;  but  these  people  must  have  forgotten — that  one  ought  either 
not  to  laugh  at  all,  or  must  needs  often  laugh  in  defiance  of  the 
rules  of  propriety,  following  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  mood".  In  the 
year  1761  Haydn  entered  the  service  of  Prince  Nicolaus  Joseph 
Esterhazy  as  Kapellmeister,  and  dwelt  until  1790  at  Eiseustadt,  the 
seat  of  the  latter,  though  sojourning  yearly  for  some  three  winter 
months  in  Vienna.  Down  to  1789  he  had  already  written  175  Sym- 
phonies for  the  private  band  of  this  prince,  besides  equally  numerous 
clavier  -  pieces  and  other  compositions.  Concerning  this  important 
period  of  his  life,  Haydn  himself  speaks  as  follows:  "My  Prince  was 
satisfied  with  all  my  works;  I  was  applauded;  as  the  master  of  an 
orchestra  I  could  make  experiments,  observe  what  produces  the  effect 
and  what  weakens  it, — could  improve,  add,  strike  out,  venture;  I  was 
cut  off  from  the  world;  no  one  near  me  could  make  me  doubt  my- 
self— thus  I  necessarily  became  original."  In  1770  a  countryman  of 
his,  Ignaz  Pleyel  (1757 — 1831)  came  to  Vienna,  to  take  lessons  in 
clavier-playing  of  the  already  mentioned  Wanhal.  Pleyel's  happy 
musical  gifts  occasioned  Count  Erdoedy  to  send  him  to  live  with 
Haydn,  that  he  might  study  violin -playing  and  composition  with  the 
latter.  He  quickly  became  the  master's  favorite  pupil,  stayed  in  his 
house  until  1777,  then  went  to  Naples,  thence  to  Rome,  and  in  1783 
was  appointed  music  director  at  the  cathedral  of  Strassburg.  It  was 
In  this  city,  especially,  that  Pleyel  composed  a  great  number  of 
String  Quartets  and  Clavier- pieces,  which  attained  to  extraordinary 
favor  at  the  time,  although  they  reproduced  in  pale  reflection  only 
the  popular  features  of  Haydn's  compositions,  without  the  ideality  of 
the  same.  They  were  printed  at  Paris,  Loudon,  Vienna,  Berlin, 
Leipzig,  etc.;  of  his  Clavier-pieces  we  mention  the  following:  6  Gran- 
des  Senates,  Op.  15,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  3  Easy  Clavier  Sonatas, 
Nouvelles  Sonatines  progressives,  and  4  Eondeaux  favoris,  Leipzig, 
Peters. 

Prince  Esterhazy  died  in  1790,  bequeathing  to  Haydn  a  life- 
pension  of  1000  florins,  which  was  increased  by  his  son  and  successor 


—     78     — 

"by  seniority  to  1400  florins.  Haydn  now  moved  to  Vienna,  intending 
to  live  there  in  peace  and  free  from  care;  but  toward  tlie  end  of 
the  year  1790  he  received  a  visit  from  Peter  Salomon,  a  celebrated 
violinist  of  Bonn,  then  living  in  England,  who  was  commissioned  by 
the  manager  of  the  Haymarket  Theatre  in  London  to  engage  him 
under  the  most  favorable  terms  as  a  composer  for  12  concerts  to  be 
given  there.  Mozart,  then  living  in  Vienna  on  the  most  friendly 
footing  with  Haydn,  said  to  him  on  this  occasion:  "Papa!  you  have 
had  no  education  for  the  great  'world',  and  speak  too  few  languages!" 
But  Haydn  answered:  "0,  my  language  is  understood  all  over  the 
world!"  and  the  15th  of  December  was  fixed  as  the  day  of  departure 
for  London.  That  day  Mozart  was  constantly  with  him;  and  at  the 
leave-taking,  which  filled  the  eyes  of  both  with  tears,  he  said: 
"This  is  probably  our  last  farewell  in  this  life!" — and  not  a  year 
had  passed  when  Haydn,  who  was  still  in  London,  received  the 
tidings  of  the  death  of  his  friend,  younger  by  24  years  than 
himself,  and  wrote  to  Vienna:  "The  world  will  not  see  such 
another  talent  in  100  years!" — Haydn  was  enthusiastically  received 
in  London,  and  his  compositions  met  with  extraordinary  success  in 
the  concerts  which  he  directed  at  the  harpsichord.  But  a  society 
of  professional  musicians,  who  were  likewise  about  to  give  a  series 
of  concerts,  strained  every  nerve  to  dim  his  lustre.  Among  other 
masters  Muzio  Clementi,  then  staying  in  London,  composed  a  symphony 
for  the  Professional  Concerts,  which  had  a  very  flattering  reception. 
In  the  second  part  of  the  soirde  one  of  Haydn's  earlier  symphonies 
was  then  performed,  with  the  intention  of  letting  it  serve  as  a  foil 
to  the  brilliancy  of  the  other.  But  the  audience  received  it  with 
such  demonstrative  applause,  that  Clementi  never  again  cared  to  at- 
tempt a  similar  contest  in  this  field.  —  In  the  summer  of  the  same 
year  Haydn  journeyed  to  Oxford  with  Dr.  Burney,  to  take  the 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  (of  Music);  after  returning  to  London  he 
remained  there  till  the  following  year  (1792),  in  order  to  bring  out 
12  new  Symphonies  in  a  series  of  as  many  concerts.  The  Society 
already  named  now  stated  publicly  that  Haydn  was  too  old  to  write 
anything  new,  and  that  therefore  his  celebrated  pupil,  Ignaz  Pleyel, 
had  been  called  to  Loudon  to  produce  his  fresher  compositions  in 
12  Professional  Concerts.  Pleyel  conducted  himself  so  amiably  in 
London  toward  his  old  master,  that  the  latter  wrote:  "Pleyel  behaved 
so  modestly  toward  me  on  his  arrival,  that  he  has  won  my  love 
anew.    We  are  veiy  often  togetlier,  which  is  an  honor  for  him,  and 


—     79     — 

he  can  .appreciate  his  father.  We  shall  divide  the  honors  between 
us,  and  each  go  home  pleased." "Last  year  I  found  great  appro- 
val, but  at  present  still  more.  Pleyel's  boldness  is  much  criticized. 
Nevertheless  I  love  him  still.  I  never  miss  his  concerts,  and  am  the 
first  to  applaud  him."  Pleyel,  however,  shared  the  fate  of  all  imita- 
tors barren  of  invention;  on  his  decease  at  Paris  in  1831  as  a  music 
publisher  and  pianoforte  maker,  his  compositions,  formerly  in  so  hi^li 
favor,  had  long  been  consigned  to  oblivion,  whereas  Haydn's  Oratorios 
and  insti-umental  works  are  still  applauded  as  models  of  a  healthy 
and  unaffected  style.  In  Germany  Haydn's  renown  first  began,  as  he 
himself  often  said,  with  his  return  from  England.  His  compositions, 
among  them  a  large  number  of  clavier -pieces  of  all  kinds,  were 
printed  at  Vienna,  Leipzig,  Berlin,  London,  Paris,  Amsterdam,  etc., 
and  were  issued  later  in  Complete  Editions  by  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtcl 
of  Leipzig,  and  L.  HoUe  of  Wolfenbiittel.  There  were  published:  — 
A  Concerto  in  D,  Op.  37,  Mainz.  Schott;  a  second  in  G,  Amsterdam^ 
Hummel;  2  Sonatas  for  4  hands,  Op.  81  and  86,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel;  II  maestro  e  lo  scolare,  Variations  for  4  hands,  same  publ.; 
34:  Clavier  Sonatas,  ditto,  also  in  Wolfenbiittel  by  L.  Holle;  8  Sona- 
tas for  Clavier  and  Violin,  new  edition  in  score,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel; 
31  Sonatas  for  Clavier,  Violin,  and  Violincello,  ditto;  and  various 
numbers  of  Variations,  Caprices  (Vienna,  Artaria),  and  minor  pieces. 
In  1794  Haydn  once  more  went  to  London,  brought  back  thence  the 
text  for  liis  Oratorio  "The  Creation",  to  Germany,  had  the  same  done 
into  German  at  Vienna  by  Van  Switen,  and  in  1799,  already  in  his 
sixty-seventh  year,  he  completed  and  brought  out  this  admirable  work 
in  the  latter  place.  In  the  year  1801  the  venerable  master  finished 
his  '-Seasons",  a  work  of  youthful  freshness,  and  died  in  1809.  amid 
the  tumult  of  the  French  war,  as  one  of  our  most  active  and  influ- 
ential composers,  who,  in  all  his  compositions,  preserved  and  lent 
most  natural  expression  to  the  true  German  character  of  heartiness 
and  easy  good  nature  (GemiitMicMeit). 

Latterly  the  folloAving  editions  of  Haydn's  Clavier- works  have 
n^l^eared:  —  AusgeivaJiJte  Sonaten  und  Solostiiclie  (Selected  Sonatas 
and  Solo  Pieces).  Edited,  with  the  co-operation  of  J.  Faisst  and 
L.  Lachner,  by  S.  Lebert.  2  Vols.  Stuttgart,  J.  G.  Cotta.  —  Sonatas 
for  the  Pianoforte.  2  Vols.  (Dorffel),  Breitkopf  &  Esu'toi.— Sonatas, 
complete  edition  (Kohler).  4  Vols.  Edition  Peters.  —  All  34  Sonatas 
(Kohler  &  Winkler)  1  Vol.,  Collection  Litolff. 

The  following  works  should  also  be  mentioned  here:— "J.  Hadya 


—     80     — 

in  Loudon,  1791  and  1792",  by  Tli.  G.  Karajan.  Vienna,  Carl  Gerold's 
Sohn,  1861.— '-Mozart  and  Haydn  in  London",  by  C.  F.  Pohl.  2  Parts. 
Vienna,  same  publ.,  1867.  — "Joseph  Haydn",  by  C.  F.  Pohl.  First 
half-volume.    Breitkopf  &  Hitrtel,  1878. 

Haydn  introduced  the  Minuet  into  his  Symphonies,  usually  giving- 
it  a  gay  and  lively  turn,  whereby  Beethoven  was  later  occasioned  to 
insert  a  similar  Scherzo  or  Allegretto  in  the  Clavier  Sonata  at  times, 
■  in  which  the  mood  of  the  entire  composition  is  reviewed  under  as 
cheerful  an  aspect  as  possible.  While  Haydn  was  the  first  who  had  the 
faculty  of  stamping  his  compositions  with  humor  and  the  most  wanton 
mirthfulness,  we  must,  on  the  other  hand,  concede  to  his  younger 
contemporary  and  the  sharer  of  his  fame,  Mozart,  who  was  active 
not  only  as  a  composer,  but  also  as  a  clavier  virtuoso,  that  he  gave 
his  works,  together  with  an  expanded  and  more  noble  form,  a  more 
exhilarating  beauty  of  tone,  while  lending  to  his  performances  the 
tenderest  and  warmest  expression.  The  elder  master  first  visited 
foreign  lands  at  an  advanced  age,  and  therefore  expressed  his  ami- 
able individuality  foremostly  in  his  genuinely  German  style  of  com- 
jposition.  Mozart,  on  the  conti-ary,  during  the  professional  tours  of 
his  childhood  and  youth,  had  already  met  the  leading  musicians  in 
the  capitals  of  Germany,  France,  England,  Holland,  and  Italy;  his 
youthful  mind  was  impressed  by  the  peculiarities  of  each,  and  his 
native  wealth  of  imagination  and  exquisite  sense  of  the  Beautiful 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  become  the  creator  of  a  universal  style 
of  composition  finding  equal  favor  everywhere. 

Wolfgang  Amadeus  Mozart  was  born  at  Salzburg  on  January  27, 
1756.  His  father,  Leopold  Mozart,  noted  as  the  author  of  the  first 
thorough  German  violin  method  and  of  several  practical  compositions, 
gave  early  instruction  in  music  to  him  and  his  sister  Maria  Anna, 
Ms  senior  by  five  years,  and  both  soon  displayed  the  happiest  talents 
for  this  art.  Nissen,  in  his  biography  of  Mozart,  gives  several  clavier- 
'])ieces  already  composed  by  Wolfgang  in  his  sixth  and  seventh  years. 
The  happy  father  was  encouraged  thereby  to  undertake  a  Knnst- 
reise  to  Munich  as  early  as  1762  with  his  children,  and  a  second 
later  to  Vienna;  in  both  places  they  were  admitted  to  the  highest 
circles,  and  their  performances  rewarded  by  unanimous  applause. 
Even  Emperor  Francis  L  frequently  invited  the  young  virtuosi  to  his 
palace,  sometimes  put  Wolfgang's  musical  abilities  to  the  proof,  and 
enjoyed  his  frank,  child-like  speeches.  For  instance,  the  latter  was 
once   to   play   before   a   h'-illiant   assemblage   at   court.     But   before 


—     81     — 

bcgiuning,  lie  looked  about  biin,  and  cried:  "Is  not  Herr  Wagenseil 
here?  He  must  come— be  understands  it!"— missing  tbe  tben  bigbly 
esteemed  clavier-player  and  composer.  Tbe  latter  tbereupon  approach- 
ing tbe  harpsichord,  Mozart  said  to  bim:  "I  am  to  play  one  of  youi* 
Concertos;  you  must  turn  over  for  me!"  —  Among  tbe  compositions 
which  Wolfgang  chose  somewhat  later  for  performance,  were  the 
Sonatas  by  Jobann  Christian  Bach  already  mentioned,  and  as  studies 
the  brother  and  sister  used,  among  others,  tbe  Sonatas  by  Domenico 
Paradies  and  a  Concerto  by  Andrea  Luccbesi— a  thoroughly  trained 
musician  appointed  in  1771  Kapellmeister  to  the  Elector  at  Bonn. 
In  Vienna  a  little  violin  was  presented  to  Wolfgang,  who  soon 
learned  to  play  on  it  without  instruction;  in  like  manner,  he  needed 
only  a  suggestion  as  to  the  treatment  of  the  pedal  of  the  organ,  to 
become  fully  familiar  with  this  instrument.  His  great  successes  in 
Vienna  encouraged  bis  father  to  venture  on  a  longer  trip  in  the  year 
1763,  this  time  to  Paris.  On  their  way  thither  the  children  were 
everywhere  admired,  and  in  Frankfort  they  gave  several  successful 
concerts.  Here  Wolfgang  played,  according  to  an  advertisement  of 
August  30,  1763  (s.  Jahn,  Life  of  Mozart,  Vol.  I,  pag.  45,  etc.),  not 
only  Concertos  on  the  clavecin  or  harpsichord,  but  also  on  the  violin; 
he  accompanied  the  symphonies  on  tbe  harpsichord,  and  finally  impro- 
vised "as  long  as  one  cared  to  listen"  in  any,  even  the  most  difficult 
keys  that  one  could  name,  "from  his  bead".  In  Paris  the  brother 
and  sister  were  introduced  to  Madame  de  Pompadour,  played  there- 
after before  tbe  royal  family  at  Versailles,  and  finally  gave  two  bril- 
liant concerts  at  Paris.  The  most  eminent  clavier -players  tben  in 
that  city  were  Schobert  of  Strassburg  and  Jobann  Gottfried  Eckart 
of  Augsburg.  They  both  brought  tbe  children  the  engraved  editions 
of  their  clavier-works,  and  Maria  Mozart  in  particular,  won,  by  her 
exact  execution  of  these  difficult  compositions,  tbe  plaudits  of  all  the 
musicians  assembled  at  the  concerts.  Mozart  the  father  now  had 
four  clavier- compositions  with  violin  accompaniment,  by  Wolfgang, 
engraved  in  Paris  as  op.  1  and  2,  whose  dedication  was  most  gra- 
ciously received  by  the  ladies  named  on  the  title-pages:  "II  Senates 
pour  le  Clavecin  qui  peuvent  se  jouer  avec  I'accompagnement  de 
Violon,  dedi6es  a  Madame  Victoire  de  France  par  J.  G.  Mozart  de 
Salzbourg,  ag6  de  sept  ans.  GEuvre  premier,"  The  second  work, 
with  a  similar  title,  was  dedicated  to  the  Comtesse  de  Tesse;  Xissen 
gives  a  movement  in  5t7-major  from  the  same.  In  1764  the  family 
journeyed  to  England,  where  they  met  with  such  an  extremely  kind 

6 


"—     82     — 

reception  that  they  remained  there  some  fifteen  months.  Johann 
Christian  Bach  was  at  that  time  Director  of  Concerts,  and  took 
special  delight  in  Wolfgang's  rare  musical  gifts.  The  King,  too, 
admired  his  playing  on  the  organ  and  harpsichord,  and  set  before 
him  compositions  by  Wagenscil,  Bach,  Handel,  Paradies,  and  the 
Chorus  Master  to  the  Queen,  Carl  Friedrich  Abel,  which  he  had  to 
play  prima  vista.  From  this  time  onward  the  free  improvisations 
on  given  themes,  which  later  formed  the  climax  of  his  concerts,  find 
special  commendation.  In  London,  Wolfgang  composed  six  more 
Sonatas  for  harpsichord  with  accompaniment  of  violin  or  flute,  which 
he  dedicated  to  Queen  Charlotte;  they  may  be  found  in  Cah.  XV 
of  the  edition  of  Mozart's  Works,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel,  as 
Sonatas  1 — 6.  In  England,  too,  he  wrote  his  first  Symphonies  for 
orchestra,  and  altogether  made  such  marvellous  mental  progress,  that 
his  father  could  write  home:  "Our  high  and  mighty  (grossmachtiger) 
Wolfgang  knows  everything  in  this,  his  eighth  year,  that  one  can 
require  of  a  man  of  forty."— On  his  return  to  Salzburg,  he  continued 
his  serious  theoretical  and  practical  studies,  and  wrote  several  Ora- 
torios, besides  other  compositions.  Daring  his  twelfth  year  he  also 
wrote  at  the  Emperor's  request,  while  in  Vienna,  his  first  Opera: 
*'La  finta  semplice",  in  three  acts,  which  could  not  be  brought  out, 
however,  on  account  of  numberless  cabals;  although  Hasse  and 
Metastasio  declared  that  thirty  operas  had  been  given  in  Vienna, 
not  one  of  which  was  in  any  way  equal  to  that  of  the  boy,  which 
they  both  admired  greatly. 

To  establish  his  son's  renown  still  more  firmly,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  insure  a  most  diversified  development  of  his  musical  talent, 
Leopold  Mozart  decided  to  go  with  him  to  Italy,  the  land  of  promise 
for  all  artists.  Wolfgang's  concerts  were  received  with  the  liveliest 
enthusiasm  in  Verona,  Mantua,  Milan,  Florence,  Rome,  and  Naples, 
and  on  the  way  back  to  Germany  the  Pope  conferred  upon  the  youth- 
ful musician  at  Rome  the  Order  of  the  Golden  Spur.  The  program 
of  a  concert  given  at  Mantua  by  Amadeo  Mozart  on  Jan.  16,  1770, 
contains  the  following  numbers:  —  A  Symphony  of  his  own  composi- 
tion; a  Clavier-concerto,  which  will  be  handed  to  him,  and  which  he 
will  immediately  play  prima  vista;  a  Sonata  handed  him  in  like 
manner,  which  he  will  provide  with  variations,  and  afterwards  repeat 
in  another  key;  an  Aria,  the  words  for  which  will  be  handed  to 
him,  and  which  he  will  immediately  set  to  music  and  sing  himself, 
accompanying  himself  on  the  harpsichord;  a  Sonata  for  Clavichord 


—     83     — 

on  a  subject  given  liim  by  the  leader  of  the  violins;  a  Strict  Fugue 
on  a  theme  to  be  selected,  which  he  will  improvise  on  the  harpsi- 
chord; a  Trio,  in  which  he  will  execute  a  violin-part  alV  improvviso; 
and  finally,  the  latest  Symphony  composed  by  himself.  — In  that  same 
year  Wolfgang'  composed  the  Opera  "Mitridate",  in  three  acts,  for 
Milan;  it  was  performed  on  December  26,  1770,  under  his  direction, 
and  was  received  with  such  extraordinary  favor  that  it  had  to  be 
repeated  twenty  times  during  that  season. 

Wolfgang  had  heard  the  spirited  delivery  of  the  most  eminent 
Italian  singers,  and  the  expressive  melodies,  by  which  the  general 
public  was  chiefly  roused  to  enthusiasm;  he  now  endeavored  to  write 
himself  in  an  equally  vocal  and  universally  appreciated  style,  and  had  ac- 
quired, through  his  constant  practice  in  improvising  entire  compositions, 
the  then  so  necessary  art  of  writing,  rehearsing,  and  bringing  out  an  Italian 
opera  "in  a  short  month".  The  remarkable  success  of  his  first  opera 
speedily  brought  him  new  commissions  for  similar  compositions;  and 
a  Festspiel  (serenata  drammatica),  written  in  1771,  and  also  the  opera 
"Lucio  Silla",  written  in  1772  for  Milan,  were  received  there  with 
equal  applause.  With  the  Comic  Opera  "La  finta  giardiniera",  which 
he  wrote  in  1775  for  Munich,  now  begin  his  successful  labors  for  his 
native  country,  which  he  does  not  again  leave,  excepting  for  a  second 
short  trip  to  Paris.  In  the  year  1770  Archbishop  Sigismund  of  Salz- 
burg, and  later  his  successor  Hieronymus,  had  appointed  Mozart 
Concertmeister,  at  first  without  salary,  and  afterwards  at  150  florins 
annually.  The  unworthy  treatment  experienced  at  the  hands  of  the 
latter  occasioned  Mozart,  however,  to  leave  his  service,  and  to  under- 
take a  new  journey  in  1777,  to  find  a  sphere  of  activity  better 
adapted  to  his  abilities. 

Provided  with  a  great  number  of  compositions  which  he  had 
finished  in  Salzburg,  he  first  went  to  Munich  and  thence  to  Augsburg, 
accompanied  by  his  mother.  In  the  latter  town  he  immediately  sought 
out  the  celebrated  builder  of  organs  and  claviers,  Georg  Andreas 
Stein,  and  was  so  greatly  delighted  with  his  Pianofortes,  on  which  the 
tone  was  easily  and  precisely  produced  and  promptly  dampened,  and 
whose  hammers  played  in  brass  sockets  (a  contrivance  later  called  the 
"Viennese  Action"),  that  he  thenceforward  adopted  this  instrument,  with 
its  more  powerfid  and  fuller  tone,  for  the  performance  of  his  clavier 
compositions.  Thus  he  writes  from  Augsburg  in  October,  1771:  "Here 
and  in  Munich  I  have  already  often  played  all  my  sonatas  by  heart 

the  last,  in  D,  comes  out  inimitably  on  the  Stein  pianoforte." 

6* 


—     84     — 

After  a  concert,  the  returns  from  which  were  unhappily  very  scanty, 
Mozart  proceeded  to  Mannheim,  whence  his  mother  wrote  (Dec.  28, 
1777):  "Wolfgang  stands  in  high  estimation  everywhere;  hut  he  plays 
quite  otherwise  than  when  in  Salzburg,  for  here  there  are  only  piano- 
fortes and  these  he  can  manage  so  inimitably,  that  the  like  was 
never  heard  before;  in  a  word,  everybody  who  hears  him  says,  that 
his  match  is  not  to  be  found.  Although  both  Beecke  and  Schubert* 
have  been  here,  everyone  says  that  he  far  surpasses  them  in  beauty, 
and  taste,  and  delicacy  (Feinigkeit) ;  and  all  are  astounded,  too,  that 
he  plays  by  heart,  and  whatever  is  put  before  him."  The  Abbe 
Georg  Joseph  Vogler  (1749 — 1814),  celebrated  both  as  an  organist 
and  clavier-player  and  as  a  composer  and  theoretician,  who  had 
opened  a  Tonsclmle  (music  school)  at  Mannheim  in  1776,  also  felt  a 
lively  interest  in  the  gifted  Mozart;  but  the  latter  could  take  no  lik- 
ing to  him,  and  wrote  his  father  (Mannheim,  Jan.  17,  1778):  "Herr 
Voo-ler  desires  absohmient  to  become  well  acquainted  with  me,  hav- 
ing often  importuned  me  to  visit  him,  and  now  he  has  finally  put 

his  pride  in  his  pocket,  and  paid  me  the  first  visit. After  dinner 

he  had  two  of  his  claviers  brought,  which  are  tuned  together,  and 
also  his  tiresome  er graved  sonatas.  I  had  to  play  them,  he  accom- 
panying me  on  the  other  clavier.  At  his  urgent  request,  I  likewise 
had  to  send  for  my  sonatas.  N.B.  Before  dinner  he  had — murdered 
my  Concerto  prima  vista.  The  first  movement  went  prestissimo ,  the 
Andante  allegro,  and  the  Rondo,  prestissimo  indeed. — You  may  easily 
imagine,  that  it  was  not  to  be  borne,  because  I  could  not  venture 
to  say  to  him:  Much  too  fast.  Besides,  it  is  far  easier  to  play  a 
piece  fast  than  slowly;  in  passages  one  can  leave  some  few  notes  in 
the  lurch,  without  its  being  noticed  by  anyone;  but  is  it  well  done? 

And  wherein  does  the  art  lie,  of  reading  prima  vista?   In  this:  To 

play  the  piece  in  the  right  tempo,  as  it  ought  to  be,  and  to  execute 
all  the  notes,  appoggiaturas,  etc.,  with  proper  expression  and  ta.ste, 
as  they  stand,  so  that  the  hearer  may  think  that  he  who  is  pla}nng 
it  composed  it  himself."  The  Abbe  Johann  Franz  Xaver  Sterkel 
(^;1750 — 1817),  who  attracted  attention  through  several  Clavier  Con- 


♦  Ignaz  von  Beecke  (d.  1803),  Major,  and  afterwards  music  director  to 
the  Prince  of  Getting- Wallerstein,  was  a  clavier-player  and  composer  highly 
esteemed  at  his  time;  the  clavier  performances  of  our  popular  poet  Christian 
Friedrich  Daniel  Schubart  (d.  1791)  "in  the  Bach  style",  were  also  much 
praised  at  that  period. 


—     85     — 

certos  (Vienna,  Artaria,  and  Offenbach,  Andr6),  Clavier  Sonatas  (Mainz, 
Scliott,  and  Offenbach,  Andre),  Sonatas  for  4  hands  (ditto),  and  other 
easily  executed,  "galante"  pieces,  was  also  staying  in  Mannheim  at 
that  time,  and  his  clavier  performances  were  likewise  censured  by 
Mozart:  "He  played  so  fast,  that  it  was  quite  unintellig-ible,  and  not 
at  all  clearly  or  in  time!"  From  these  remarks,  as  well  as  from 
abundant  contemporary  testimony,  it  is  evident  that  Mozart  played, 
and  wished  to  have  his  compositions  performed,  in  a  not  too  rapid 
tempo,  but  always  with  the  warmest  expression  and  most  exquisite 
taste.  He  was  also  invariably  "accurat  in  time,  and  nevertheless 
played  expressively",  and  did  not  allow  the  regular  course  of  the 
left  hand  to  be  disturbed  even  by  a  tempo  ruhato  in  the  right  in  an 
Adagio  (see  Nissen,  pag.  318,  etc.)  In  Mannheim  Mozart  played 
often,  and  always  with  success  before  the  Electoral  court,  but  his 
desire  of  an  appointment  there  remained  unfulfilled.  He  therefore 
proceeded  in  1778  to  Paris,  where  he  had  been  so  flatteringly  re- 
ceived as  a  boy.  Here,  however,  a  most  vehement  strife  was  in  pro- 
gress between  the  adherents  of  Oluck  and  their  opponents,  the 
admirers  of  Piccini;  the  entire  interest  of  musical  circles  was  con- 
centrated on  the  outcome  of  the  musical  dramas  of  these  rival  com- 
posers; thus  little  hope  was  left  for  Mozart  of  finding  proper  appre- 
ciation in  Paris  at  such  an  agitated  time.  The  death  of  his  faithful 
mother  having  made  Paris  repugnant  to  him,  he  hastened  back  to 
Salzburg,  in  order  to  re-enter,  at  his  father's  desire,  the  service  of 
the  Archbishop  so  cordially  detested  by  him,  as  Concertmeister  and 
Hoforganist  at  a  salary  of  400  florins.  He  now  composed,  in  parti- 
cular, several  masses,  and  the  opera  "Zaide",  which  however  was 
not  performed.  He  at  last  received  the  flattering  commission,  to  write 
a  grand  serious  opera,  "Idomeneo",  for  the  Carnival  of  1781  at 
Munich.  The  opera  had  extraordinary  success,  and  Mozart  reluctantly 
left  Munich  in  response  to  the  command  of  the  Archbishop  to  follow 
him  to  Vienna.  But  here  he  was  repeatedly  treated  by  the  latter  in 
such  an  outrageous  manner,  that  he  finally  felt  compelled  to  break 
with  him  for  good.  At  this  time  Leopold  Kozeluch  (1753—1814) 
was  one  of  the  most  popular  composers  and  fashionable  clavier- 
teachers  in  Vienna,  and  had  already  written  fifty  Clavier  Concertos, 
three  Concertos  for  4  hands,  a  Concerto  for  two  pianofortes,  and  over 
sixty  Sonatas  for  two  and  four  hands,  which  have  been  published  in 
part  by  Artaria  of  Vienna,  Andre  of  Offenbach,  Peters  of  Leipzig, 
and  Schott  of  Mainz.    The  Archbishop  now  approached  him,  in  order 


—     86     — 

to  persuade  him  to  accept  the  position  in  Salzburg  given  up  by 
I\Iozart,  offering  him  a  salary  of  1000  florins.  But  Kozeluch  declined 
the  offer,  and  remarked:  ''If  he  lets  such  a  man  go,  how  would  he 
act  towards  me!" 

In  the  year  1787  Gluck  died,  who,  as  Imperial  Kammerkompo- 
nist  (composer  for  the  Emperor's  private  band),  had  drawn  a  salary 
of  2000  florins,  and  Mozart  then  entered  the  Emperor's  service,  but 
only  as  Kammermusikus,  at  a  salary  of  but  800  florins.  But  Kozeluch, 
whose  compositions  now  appear  dry  and  quite  unenjoyable  to  us, 
received  the  position  of  Kammerkomponist  after  Mozart's  death  with 
a  salary  of  1500  florins!— A  year  subsequent  to  his  arrival  in  Vienna, 
Mozart  married  Constance  Weber;  and  though  he  wrote  from  this 
time  down  to  his  death  nine  years  later  his  finest  musical  dramas 
and  other  vocal  and  instrumental  compositions,  and  celebrated  the 
most  brilliant  triumphs  as  a  pianoforte  virtuoso,  he  was  never  able, 
despite  untiring  assiduity,  to  banish  the  cares  attendant  upon  the 
support  of  his  family.  The  cause  of  this  was,  that  the  theatre 
managers  and  music  publishers,  with  few  exceptions,  paid  compara- 
tively insignificant  sums  for  his  manuscripts;  and  further,  that  the 
receipts  from  his  concerts  did  not  always  correspond  to  the  applause 
which  was  showered  upon  his  performances. 

The  first  Opera  composed  by  Mozart  during  this  period  for  Vienna, 
was  "Belmonte  und  Constanze"  (1782);  it  was  given  there,  and  in 
Prague,  Leipzig,  Hamburg,  and  other  places,  with  great  success.  It 
was  followed  by  the  "Schauspieldirector"  and  "Le  nozze  di  Figaro" 
(1786);  the  latter  opera,  which  was  written  and  composed  within  six 
weeks,  met  with  extraordinary  success,  especially  in  Prague.  Mozart, 
who  gave  concerts  there  in  1787,  was  greeted  with  enthusiasm,  and 
after  a  free  improvisation  which  he  executed  at  the  close,  he  was 
thrice  recalled  to  the  pianoforte.  His  Opera  "Don  Giovanni",  written 
for  Prague  in  1787,  was  received  with  overwhelming  applause  from 
overture  to  close.  But  Mozart's  pecuniary  circumstances  remained 
embarrassed.  To  improve  them,  he  undertook  a  professional  tour  to 
Berlin  in  1789,  touching  Dresden  and  Leipzig  on  the  way.  In  Berlin 
he  met  with  a  most  flattering  reception,  both  at  Court  and  in  private 
circles,  but  abandoned  the  idea  of  giving  a  concert,  as  his  friends 
considered  it  doubtful  if  the  receipts  would  be  sufficient.  King 
Frederick  William  IL,  with  the  benevolent  intention  of  rescuing  him 
from  his  petty  cares,  offered  him  an  appointment  as  Kapellmeister 
with  a  salary  of  3000  thalers;  but  Mozart  felt  bound  to  decline  the 


—     87     — 

same,  "as  he  did  not  wish  quite  to  forsake  his  g-ood  Kaiser".  After 
his  return  to  Vienna  he  acquainted  the  Kaiser  with  tliis  brilliant  oifer, 
but  the  latter  was  not  moved  thereby  to  increase  his  paltry  income, 
though  he  commissioned  him  (in  December,  1789)  to  write  a  new 
opera,  "Cosi  fan  tutte".  The  same  was  brought  out  on  January  26 
of  the  following  year;  yet  we  do  not  learn  that  the  Viennese  noticed 
any  difference  between  Mozart's  master-works  and  the  then  fashion- 
able operas  by  Sarti,  Salieri,  Guglielmi,  Cimarosa,  Paisielli,  Martin, 
and  "Weigl.  In  1790  he  determined  to  make  another  journey  to 
Frankfort,  to  the  coronation  of  Kaiser  Leopold  II.,  and  wrote  thence 
to  his  "darling  wifey"  (Herzensweibchen):  "Now  I  am  firmly  resolved 
to  do  my  work  here  as  well  as  possible,  and  then  joyfully  back  to 
you. — What  a  magnificent  life  we  shall  lead,  I  will  work— work,  so 
that  I  may  not  again  be  placed  in  such  a  disagreeable  position 
through  unforeseen  accidents." — In  a  concert  given  there,  only  com- 
positions of  his  own  were  performed;  he  played  among  other  things 
the  Piano  Concerto  in  F,  Op.  44,  and  the  "Coronation  Concerto"  in 
D,  Op.  46.  The  presence  of  the  above-mentioned  J.  v.  Beecke  also 
induced  him  to  perform  a  Pianoforte  Concerto  for  4  hands  with  his 
assistance.  On  the  return  trip  he  stopped  at  Mainz,  Mannheim,  and 
Munich,  but  he  did  not  succeed  in  improving  his  pecuniary  condition 
by  this  journey.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Vienna,  Salomon  also  came 
thither,  to  engage  his  fatherly  friend  Haydn  for  London.  To  Mozart 
he  also  held  out  the  prospect  of  going  to  London,  after  Haydn's 
return,  under  similar  favorable  terms.  But  we  know,  that  Mozart 
was  never  again  to  behold  the  one  contemporary,  who  seems  to  have 
fully  recognized  his  greatness.  In  the  Spring  of  1791  the  theatre 
manager  Schikaneder  entreated  Mozart  to  set  to  music  an  opera,  the 
Magic  Flute,  for  which  he  himself  h;id  written  the  libretto,  for  per- 
formance in  his  theatre,  hardly  more  than  a  mere  wooden  booth. 
Mozart,  good-natured  and  ever  ready  to  help,  had  not  yet  finished 
the  same,  when  he  received  the  honorable  commission  to  write  a 
festival  opera  for  Prague,  for  the  coronation  of  the  Kaiser  as  King 
of  Bohemia.  In  18  days  the  opera  intended  for  this  purpose,  "La 
clemenza  di  Tito",  was  finished,  rehearsed,  and  performed  in  Prague, 
in  spite  of  Mozart's  continued  indisposition.  The  success  of  the  same 
did  not  answer  his  expectations;  indeed,  his  happy  star  was  not  to 
rise  until  the  last  months  of  his  life.  The  Magic  Flute,  given  for 
the  first  time  shortly  after  his  return  to  Vienna,  was  then  received 
with  such   unexampled    applause,    that   it   had   to    be    repeated    one 


—     88     — 

hundred  times,  with  like  tremendous  ovations,  from  Sept.  30,  1791, 
the  day  of  its  first  performance,  up  to  Nov.  23  of  the  following  year. 
Mozart,  though  suffering  seriously  both  physically  and  mentally  from 
unremitting  work  and  various  excitements,  was  still  laboring  zealously 
on  his  requiem,  in  defiance  of  growing  indisposition,  when  stricken 
by  death  on  December  5,  1791. 

Despite  the  almost  miraculous  ease  and  rapidity  with  which 
Mozart  sketched  and  completed  the  majority  of  his  compositions,  he 
nevertheless  endowed  them  all  with  the  purest  euphony,  the  most 
soulful  meaning,  and  the  most  artistic  form.  To  his  earliest  clavier 
compositions,  which  he  performed  at  his  concerts,  belong  the  Varia- 
tions on  a  Minuet  by  Fischer,  in  C-major.  In  1774  he  had  them 
sent  him  while  in  Munich,  and  also  played  them  in  1778  in  Paris. 
The  theme,  thoroughly  appropriate  to  the  graceful  dance,  appears  in 
4-measure  rhythm.  But  the  foui'th  measure  of  the  second  strain  is 
repeated,  whereby  a  peculiar  5-measure  phrase  is  formed,  which 
Mozart  retains  in  all  twelve  variations.  These,  like  the  variations 
on  "Je  suis  Lindor",  which  he  played  in  public  at  Leipzig  and 
Vienna,  are  by  far  more  flowing  in  their  runs  and  passages  than  the 
earlier  "galante"  variations  (Verandenmgen)  by  Emanuel  Bach,  Kirn- 
berger,  and  others;  yet  they  offer  no  difficulty  whatever  to  a  modern 
pianist,  and  are  intended,  like  all  similar  compositions  of  Mozart's, 
to  affect  the  hearers  mainly  through  the  expressive  delivery  of  their 
pleasing  melodies.  The  "free  improvisation",  always  greeted  with 
demonstrative  applause,  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  such  varia- 
tions, in  which  the  audience  was  treated  to  familiar  themes,  now 
varied  in  melody,  harmony,  or  rhythm,  and  now  ornamented  with 
pearling  and  brilliant  figures  and  passages. 

One  of  the  most  prolific  authors  of  this  style  of  clavier  pieces 
was  the  Abb6  Joseph  Gelinek  (1757—1825).  When  Mozart  went  to 
Prague  in  1787  to  bring  out  his  Don  Giovanni,  he  heard  the  Abbe 
extemporize  on  one  of  his  melodies,  and  was  so  favorably  impressed 
by  this  performance,  that  he  recommended  him  to  the  family  of 
Count  Kinsky  as  Claviermeister.  Gelinek  soon  after  accompanied  the 
family  to  Vienna,  continued  in  most  friendly  relations  with  Mozart, 
and  published  his  first  variations  on  the  theme  from  Don  Giovanni 
"Reich  mir  die  Hand,  mein  Leben"  (Vienna,  Artaria;  Mainz, 
Schott,  etc.),  gradually  followed  by  various  similar  ones  on  melodies 
by  Mozart  and  others,  which  soon  became  so  generally  popular,  that 
down   to  1815  more    than   125  Numbers   had  appeared,^  printed   in 


—     89     — 

Vienna,  Leipzig,  Berlin,  Mainz,  Paris,  London,  etc.  These  Variations, 
like  the  similar  fashionable  pieces  by  his  contemporaries  J.  Wanhal, 
F.  J.  Kirmair,  D.  Steibelt,  J.  W.  Wilms,  and  others,  can  lay  no  claims 
to  artistic  value,  but  have  only  the  aim,  while  easy  of  execution,  of 
sounding  brilliantly  to  the  non- professional,  and  to  set  in  motion,  at 
best,  the  pupil's  fingers.  Far  more  valuable  and  original  both  in 
form  and  in  the  development  of  their  melodies,  are  the  Variations  of 
the  inconstant  and  original  Johann  Wilhelm  Hassler  (1747—1822), 
a  pupil  of  the  excellent  organist  J.  Ch,  Kittel  of  Erfurt.  His  "Fan- 
taisie  et  chanson  russe  variee,  op.  19,  gravee  et  imprimee  chez 
Reinsdorp  et  Kaestner"  (place  not  given),  still  strikes  us  as  a  piquant 
piano-piece.  The  Variations  form  a  connected  series,  and  the  player 
is  already  confronted  by  passages  in  thirds  and  sixths  for  the  right 
hand,  chords  stretching  a  tenth  (e.  g.  f'^-c-e\>-a)  for  the  left,  and  for 
both  the  rapid  change  of  fingers  on  the  same  key,  later  so  much 
employed.  Hassler  is  said  to  have  played  the  cla\'ier  with  genuine 
and  animated  expression,  which  he  also  maintained  in  prestissimo. 
He  once  gave  a  perfonnance  on  the  organ  in  the  Garnisonhirclie  at 
Berlin,  where  he  played,  according  to  the  testimony  of  a  musician 
present,  ''like  an  angel  with  his  hands,  and  like  a  devil  with  his 
feet".  Of  his  Clavier  Sonatas  were  published:  3  Sonates,  op.  13,  14, 
and  16,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  Fantaisie  et  Sonate,  op.  17, 
same  publ.;  6  Easy  Sonatas  (ditto);  Grande  Sonate  pour  3  mains  sur 
un  Pianoforte,  Riga,  Hartknoch,  1793;  etc.  In  the  year  1789  Mozart 
met  Hassler  in  Dresden.  But  Mozart,  in  the  musical  match  there 
contested,  so  far  outrivalled  his  opponent,  that  even  the  latter  could 
not  withhold  the  full  tribute  of  his  admiration. 

With  the  same  consistency  shown  by  Emanuel  Bach  in  clinging 
to  the  3  movements  of  the  Clavier  Sonata,  Mozart  developed  the 
first  movement  in  the  sonata-form  still  retained  to-day,  in  which— as 
in  similar  compositions  by  Johann  Christian  Bach,  with  whom  he  became 
acquainted  in  his  childhood  in  London  and  whose  compositions  he 
studied  later  —  a  first  and  second  theme  appear  and  are  developed. 
Among  Mozart's  31  Pianoforte  Sonatas  we  notice  especially  that  in 
^-minor  (CEuvres  compl.  de  Mozart,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel; 
Cah.  1,  No.  6),  the  Fantaisie  and  Sonate  in  0-minor,  and  the  Souate 
in  F  (Cah.  6,  Nos.  1,  2,  and  13).  The  Pianoforte  Sonatas  for  4  hands 
(Cah.  7,  Nos.  1—4)  also  first  received  from  Mozart  a  really  interest- 
ing conception  and  an  extended  form;  he  sought  to  occupy  both 
players  in  an  equally  interesting  manner,   and  to  his  pattern- work 


—     90     — 

we  owe  the  fine  sonatas  for  4  hands  by  G.  Onslow  (Op.  7  in  JE'-minor 
and  Op.  22  in  F-minor),  J.  N.  HmiMEL  (Op.  92  in  J.:? -minor),  and 
I.  MoscHELES  (Op.  47  \rE:?).  But  in  the  Pianoforte  Concertos,  which 
he  designed  for  his  own  performances,  and  of  which  he  composed 
seventeen  during  his  last  stay  in  Vienna,  Mozart  so  far  surpasses  his 
predecessors,  that  we  have  almost  to  regard  him  as  the  inventor  of 
this  species  of  composition.  Through  their  interpretation  he  aimed 
at  affecting  his  hearers  not  only  as  a  virtuoso,  but  more,  and  rather, 
as  a  tone -poet  and  declaimer.  His  Concertos  are  Symphonies,  in 
which  the  pianoforte  takes  a  leading  part  in  accordance  with  its 
character,  and  the  orchestra  has  not  merely  a  subordinate  accom- 
paniment, but  displays  its  full  volume  and  splendor  of  tone  indepen- 
dently, to  form  a  due  contrast  to  the  harder  tone  and  brilliantly 
animated  passages  of  the  pianoforte.  Of  these  the  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel 
edition  contains  20,  among  them  one  (No.  17)  in  jEJ|7  for  two  piano- 
fortes; an  edition  of  the  same  in  score  has  also  been  issued  by  Andre 
of  Offenbach.  "We  call  special  attention  to  Xo.  5  of  the  Score  Edi- 
tion in  B\f^  of  1784;  No.  2  in  G,  of  same  year;  No.  3  in  D-minor 
of  the  year  1785;  No.  6  in  (7-major,  same  year;  No.  7  in  C-minor, 
of  1786;  No.  8  in  C-major,  ditto;  and  the  ''Coronation  Concerto"  in 
D,  of  1790  (No.  20  in  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  Edit.),  which  as  Mozart 
reports  made  a  "great  stir"  in  Vienna,  he  having  to  repeat  the  Eondo 
as  an  encore.  Among  his  other  Pianoforte  Works  are  to  be  noted 
the  pleasing  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin  (QEuvi*es,  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel;  Cah.  4,  6  Sou.;  Cah.  9,  5  Son.;  Cah.  11,  5  Son.;  Cah.  17, 
4  Son.),  for  whose  composition  he  in  many  instances  showed  peculiar 
fondness;  fui-ther,  2  Quartets  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  Viola,  and  Violin- 
cello,  in  G-minor  and  jEJ^-major  (Cah.  13);  and  finally,  a  Quintet  for 
Pianoforte,  Oboe,  Clarinette,  Horn,  and  Bassoon  in  Ep  (Cah.  14),  in 
which  he  exhibits  remarkable  skill  in  the  interesting  and  effective 
employment  of  the  various  qualities  of  tone,  both  individually  and 
collectively,  afforded  by  the  several  instruments.  Two  Trios,  in 
Ji5j?-major  and  JF-major,  for  Pianoforte  Violin,  and  Violoncello  (Cah.  10, 
Nos.  1  and  3)  are  also  markedly  prominent  among  his  compositions 
of  a  similar  kind.  A  cheap  edition  of  ^Mozart's  Complete  Pianoforte 
Works  has  been  published  by  L.  Holle  of  Wolfenbiittel. 

Mozart,  like  Emanuel  Bach,  was  far  in  advance  of  the  theore- 
ticians of  his  time  as  a  haimonist.  Both  in  his  symphonies  and  piano- 
forte works  are  found  harmonies,  chord-progressions,  and  modulations 
sometimes   considered   of   doubtful   propriety   even   now.     E.   g.    the 


—     91     — 

Fantasia  set  before  the  Sonata  mentioned  above  (Op.  11)  begins  in  an 
Adagio  in  ^/^  time  with  the  melodically  broken  chord  c-elf-f'^-fgj-a'r}^ 
resolving  to  the  (r-ma-jor  triad,  and  a  following  sequence  leads  in  like 
manner  through  i\>-d\}-e-(f)-g  to  i^- major.  The  motive  of  the  first 
measure  is  then  developed  in  the  harmonies  given  below,  in  uninter- 
rupted succession:  —  A\f-c-e\}-g\?,  Z)|?-major;  a-c-e\>-g\?,  JE't?-major; 
J5-major,  f^-a^-c^-e,  A-c^-e-g,  JP-minor,  G-b-d-f,  jE'!?-minor,  etc.  Further 
on,  the  i^Jf-major  triad  is  followed  by  a  more  developed  middle 
division  in  2) -major,  and  the  latter  by  an  Allegro  in  ^- minor, 
whose  middle  division  touches  the  following  keys:  F-major,  F-minor, 
DI?-major,  ^[?-major,  C^-minor,  etc.  Now,  after  the  chord  of  the  do- 
minant seventh  F-a-c-e\>^  there  enters  an  Andantino  in  Ji5l7-major  and 
^/^  time,  the  more  animated  second  half  of  which  leads  back  to  the 
Adagio  of  the  beginning,  in  which  tempo  the  so  richly  harmonized 
piece  closes  (C-minor).  Chord -progressions,  modulations,  and  enhar- 
monic transitions  like  those  here  described,  were  quite  as  harshly 
censured  at  that  time  as  are  to-day  the  similar  licences  of  modern, 
free-thinking  composers;  and  nevertheless  they  are  the  very  things 
which  led  to  a  broadening  of  our  science  of  harmony.* 

In  1781  Mozart  was  invited  by  the  Kaiser  to  a  contest  of  skill 
with  the  Roman  Muzio  Clementi,  who  was  then  in  Vienna,  and  who  had 
already  caused  a  great  sensation  in  London  and  Paris  by  his  extra- 
ordinary virtuosity  on  the  Fortepiano.  At  the  meeting  of  the  two 
artists  arranged  for  this  purpose  Clementi  played  first,  choosing  hi» 
Sonata  in  5[? -major,  the  first  two  measures  of  which  resemble  those 
in  the  Allegro  of  the  Overture  to  the  Magic  Flute,  composed  later 
by  Mozart.  The  latter  thereupon  performed  variations,  and  both 
then  improvised  on  two  pianofortes  on  a  theme  given  by  the  Kaiser. 
Regarding  Mozart's  playing,  Clementi  afterwards  remarked:  "Until 
then  I  had  never  heard  anyone  play  with  such  spirit  and  grace. 
I  was  chiefly  surprised  by  an  Adagio  and  several  of  his  extemporized 
variations,  the  theme  of  which  had  been  chosen  by  the  Kaiser,  we 
having  to  vary  the  same,  accompanying  each  other  alternately."  But 
Mozart,  who  had  a  decided  aversion  for  all  Italians,  describes  Clementi 
as  a  mere  "Mechanicus",  possessing  great  skill  in  passages  of  thirds, 
but   for   the   rest   not  a  Kreutzer's  worth  of  feeling  or  taste.    Sub- 


*  A  theoretical  justification  of  these  licences  is  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing treatises  by  the  Author:  "Harmoniesystem",  Leipzig,  Kahnt,  and  "Die 
neue  Harmonielehre  im  Streit  mit  der  alten",  same  publ. 


—     92     — 

sequently,  too,  wlien  discussing  the  passages  in  sixths  and  octaves  in 
dementi's  sonatas,  he  advises  his  sister  not  to  take  too  much  pains 
with  them,  so  as  not  to  spoil  her  quiet  and  steady  hand,  and  thus 
to  lose  her  natural  lightness,  suppleness,  and  flowing  velocity.  The 
German  Opera -composer  then  preferred  above  all  others  in  Vienna 
and  Berlin,  Carl  Ditters  von  Dittersdorf,  gave  the  Kaiser,  who  had 
ennobled  him  and  lavished  all  sorts  of  favors  upon  him,  the  follow- 
ing opinion  on  these  two,  the  greatest  pianoforte -players  of  the 
period:  "In  dementi's  style,  art  (skill)  alone  prevails;  but  in  Mozart's, 
art  and  taste." 

In  the  spiritualization  and  vivifying  of  the  pianoforte  style  Mozart 
has  rendered  great  services  not  only  through  his  genial  compositions 
and  their  spirited  interpretation,  but  through  direct  teaching  as  well. 
Further  on  we  shall  notice,  at  greater  length,  Johann  Nepomuk 
Hummel,  who  in  his  seventh  year  took  lessons  of  and  lived  with 
Mozart.  The  general  propagation  and  cultivation  of  pianoforte-playing 
first  begins  with  Mozart's  appearance,  and  under  his  influence  arose, 
in  Vienna,  that  Pianoforte  School,  whose  eleves  were  distinguished 
for  precision,  taste,  and  warmth  in  their  playing,  and  for  engaging 
perspicuity  and  euphony  in  their  compositions.  We  must  regard  Hum- 
mel, in  particular,  as  the  later  leader  of  this  school;  and  Beethoven 
as  at  once  the  perfecter  and  the  reformer  of  the  same. 

Latterly  the  following  editions  of  Mozart's  compositions  have 
appeared:  Mosarfs  Worhs,  Complete  Edition,  critically  revised.  Con- 
taining, in  various  series,  all  his  Pianoforte  Works.  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. 
—  Selected  Sonatas,  and  other  Pieces.  Edited,  with  assistance  of 
J.  Faisst  and  J.  Lachner,  by  S.  Lebert.  Vol.  1,  2,  and  3,  the  latter 
for  4  hands.  Stuttgart,  J.  G.  Cotta.  —  Complete  Sonatas  (L.  Kohler), 
Complete  Variations  (Winkler),  7  Concertos,  Collection  Litolff.  —  Com- 
plete Sonatas,  Variations,  and  Concertos,  Edition  Peters, — 

On  Mozart  and  his  Works  we  have  the  following:  0.  JaJin, 
"W.  A.  Mozart",  4  Vols.,  1856—1859.  New  edition  in  2  Vols.  Breit- 
kopf &  Hilrtel— G.  N.  von  Nissen,  "Mozart's  Biography",  2  Vols,  and 
Supplement,  :'828,  same  publ.  —  C.  F.  PoJil,  "Mozart  and  Haydn  in 
London",  first  Part,  Vienna,  Carl  Gerold's  Sohn,  1867.— Z.  v.  Kocliel, 
"Chronologico- thematic  List  of  all  Compositions  by  W.  A.  Mozart". 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  1862. 

The  enterprising  pul)lishing  house  of  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  has  also 
issued  the  following,  by  masters  previously  named:  Wagenseil,  Senate, 
op.  4  (alte  Meister  No.  19);   Kozeluch,   Symphonies  pour  Piano  Nos. 


—     93     — 

1  and  2;  Ahhe  Voghr,  "Der  eheliche  Zwist"  (Conjugal  Dispute), 
Sonata  for  Pianoforte  with  2  Violins,  Viola,  and  Bass;  Gelinek, 
21  books  of  Variations;  ScJwbert,  Minuetto  and  Allegro  molto  (alte 
Meister  No.  39).— 

Muzio  ClementL 

Contemporaneously  with  the  German  School  of  Pianoforte -play- 
inir,  the  Italian  School,  at  whose  head  Clement!  had  placed  himself, 
had  attained  to  a  high  degree  of  development  in  another  direction. 
Vv'bile  Mozart's  playing  and  style  of  composition  were  chiefly  instrumen- 
tal in  introducing  a  warmer  delivery,  easier  fluency,  and  a  more  perfect 
finish  of  the  passages,  dementi's  services  consisted  mainly  in  greatly 
extending  the  resources  of  the  virtuoso,  and  in  facilitating  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  higher  skill  demanded  thereby  through  excellent 
Studies.  Muzio  Clementi  was  born  in  Rome  (1752),  and  educated  as 
a  musician.  As  early  as  his  ninth  year  his  unusual  talents  for  this 
art  procured  him  a  position  as  organist  in  that  city,  and  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  Ms  clavier -playing  so  enchanted  a  wealthy  Englishman 
by  the  name  of  Beckford,  that  the  latter  engaged  to  provide  for  him 
in  future,  and  took  him  to  England.  We  learn  that  he  studied  here 
the  sonatas  of  the  Neapolitans  D.  Scarlatti  and  P.  D.  Paradies,  and 
at  the  same  time  became  acquainted  with  the  works  of  German 
masters,  such  as  Handel  and  Bach,  through  whose  salutary  influence 
his  own  compositions  were  first  endowed  with  enduring  value.  The 
Sonatas  published  by  him  as  op.  2  (Offenbach,  Audr6)  created  a 
general  sensation;  even  the  actual  originator  of  this  species  of  serious 
clavier-music,  Emanuel  Bach,  did  not  withhold  his  praise.  Soon  after 
their  publication  he  was  appointed  cembalist  of  the  Italian  Opera  in 
London;  in  the  year  1780  he  began  his  professional  tours  to  Paris, 
Strassburg,  Munich,  and  Vienna,  on  which  both  his  brilliant  delivery 
and  artistically  wrought  compositions  everywhere  aroused  the  greatest 
enthusiasm.  In  1785  he  again  settled  in  England,  where  he  was 
quickly  surrounded  by  a  throng  of  pupils,  who  revered  in  him  a 
teacher  full  of  vigorous  and  stimulating  life.  In  1800  he  became 
partner  in  an  extensive  Pianoforte  Manufactory,  and  did  valuable 
work  in  improving  the  tone  and  touch  of  the  insti'uments  produced 
by  the  same.  To  his  pupil  Ludwig  Berger  he  remarked  later,  that 
at  a  former  period  he  had  taken  pleasure  chiefly  in  powerful  and 
brilliant  execution,  especially  in  the  pa  sages  in  doubled  notes  (thirds 


—     94     — 

sixths,  etc.)  not  previously  attempted,  and  in  extemporized  perfor- 
mances, not  having  until  later  acquired,  by  attentively  listening  to 
renowned  singers,  a  more  singing  and  chaste  style  of  rendering,  to 
which  the  gradual  perfecting  of  the  tone  of  the  English  grand  piano- 
fortes added  a  highly  important  stimulus.  In  1802  Clementi  under- 
took, with  his  favorite  pupil,  John  Field,  another  professional  tour 
to  Paris,  where,  in  particular,  the  fine  interpretation  of  Bach's  and 
Handel's  fugues  by  Field  received  high  praise.  Both  then  proceeded 
to  Vienna,  and  later  to  St.  Petersburg;  in  this  latter  place  the  re- 
ception accorded  to  Field  was  so  cordial,  that  he  decided  to  make 
it  his  permanent  abode.  Louis  Spohr,  who  also  visited  St,  Peters- 
burg at  the  time,  describes  Clementi  as  a  man  of  a  very  jovial  dis- 
position and  engaging  manners;  Field,  on  the  other  hand,  as  a  pale 
tall  youth,  whose  romantically  melancholy  style  of  playing  he  found- 
peculiarly  moving.  In  the  years  next -following  Clementi  continued 
his  successful  tours;  in  Dresden  he  was  joined  by  Alexander  Klengel, 
and  in  Berlin  by  Ludwig  Berger,  who  desired  to  profit  by  his 
masterly  teaching  and  his  instructive  performances.  They  accompanied 
him  on  his  second  journey  to  St.  Petersburg  in  1805,  and  found  Field 
already  the  most  popular  teacher  in  the  City  of  the  Czars,  and  in 
the  full  tide  of  prosperity.  His  example  determined  both  Klengel 
and  Berger  to  take  up  their  residence  in  Russia,  far  from  the 
disturbances  of  war  then  beginning  in  Germany.  Clementi  after- 
wards made  a  protracted  stay  in  Vienna,  where  his  teaching  and 
playing  exercised  a  most  salutary  influence;  as,  to  name  one  instance, 
on  Kalkbrenner's  pianoforte  style.  He  then  revisited  Italy,  and  finally 
returned  to  England  in  1810,  where  he  closed  his  active  life' in  1832 
at  the  age  of  eighty,  having  edified  but  a  few  days  before  a  gather- 
ing of  his  pupils  and  admirers  —  among  whom  J.  B.  Cramer  and 
L  Moscheles  were  also  present — by  his  playing  on  the  pianoforte. 

Clementi  left  more  than  200  Sonatas  for  the  Pianoforte,  35  of 
which  are  arranged  with  accompaniment  of  Violin  or  Flute,  and  48 
with  accompaniment  of  Violin  or  Flute  and  the  Violoncello;  also  a 
Duo  for  2  Pianofortes;  6  Duos  for  4  hands;  "Caprices,  Preludes  et 
Point- d'orgue  composes  dans  le  gout  de  Haydn,  Mozart,  Kozelueh, 
Stcrkel,  Wanhal  et  Clementi",  Op.  19,  Mainz,  Schott;  "Introduction  a 
I'art  de  toucher  le  Pianoforte,  avec  50  IcQons",  Leipzig,  Peters;  several 
Fugues,  Toccatas,  Variations,  etc.;  and  finally  the  volume  of  Studies, 
still  indispensable  to  every  pianist,  entitled  "Gradus  ad  Parnassum, 
Oder   die   Kunst   des   Pianofortespiels   durch   100  Beispiele   gelehrt". 


—     95     — 

3  Parts.  Wolfeiibiittel,  Holle. — A  Collection  of  his  Pianoforte  Works 
has  been  issued  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  Leipzig;  a  cheaper  edition 
of  the  same,  in  5  Vols.,  by  L.  Holle,  Wolfenbiittcl. 

Of  his  Sonatas,  which  have  in  part  a  pedagogic  aim,  we  note 
especially  the  one  already  alluded  to  in  ^l?-major,  which  is  followed 
by  a  brilliant  Toccata  in  the  same  key,  to  be  executed  prestissimo; 
also  a  plaintively  agitated  Sonata  in  5- minor,  Stuttgart,  Hallberger, 
in  the  Edition  de  luxe  of  the  Classics  Beethoven,  Clementi,  Haydn, 
Mozart,  No.  12;  and  "Trois  Senates  dediees  a  Cherubini",  Op.  50, 
Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. —  In  these  last  compositions  Clementi 
shows  himself  not  only  an  able  contrapuntist,  but  also  a  harmonist 
far  surpassing  those  of  the  earlier  Italian  school.  The  third  of  the 
same,  in  G^-minor,  bears  the  title  "Didone  abbandonata,  Scena  tragica"; 
it  is  peculiarly  distinguished  by  its  rich  volume  of  tone  and  bold 
harmonic  development,  the  expression  of  its  passionate  meaning  being 
intensified  by  the  stronger  effects  employed. 

dementi's  most  important  pianoforte  work,  written  with  peculiar 
and  loving  care,  is  the  Gradus  ad  Parnassum.  The  entire  piano- 
forte technique  of  that  period,  so  materially  extended  by  himself,  is 
represented  therein  by  eminently  practical  Studies.  The  fingers  are 
made  independent  of  each  other,  their  equalization  in  strength  and 
endurance  promoted,  and  both  hands  trained  in  runs  of  thirds  and 
sixths,  in  rolling  and  undulating  passages,  in  broken  chords,  and  in 
octave-playing.  In  the  Strai-aganza,  Ex.  94,  three  notes  against  two 
are  given;  in  the  Bissarria,  Ex.  95,  the  Quintuplet  runs  on  through- 
out; the  Canon  affords  au  opportunity  of  occupying  both  hands  in  full 
equality;  and  by  Fugues  written  in  true  pianoforte  style  the  player's 
attention  is  fixed  on  the  significance  of  the  inner  parts;  the  changing 
of  fingers  -for  repeated  notes,  the  crossing  of  the  hands,  the  scales, 
triplets,  appoggiaturas,  turns  and  trills  are  all  studied  in  the  interest- 
ing compositions,  several  of  which  often  form  a  connected  Suite,  and 
whose  form  sometimes  even  touches  the  dramatic  as  in  the  Scena 
patetica,  Ex.  39.  The  movement  at  times  occupies  two,  three,  or 
four  parts,  at  others  the  greatest  possible  number,  and  all  of  the 
hundred  studies  are  distinguished  by  the  most  brilliant  and  natural 
pianoforte  style  of  the  skilfullest  contrapuntist. 

Late  editions  of  dementi's  Pianoforte  Works  have  been  pub- 
lished by  Breitlvopf  S  Hartel,  64  Sonatas  in  3  Vols.,  boards,  red;  — 
J.  G.  Cotta,  Sonatas  and  other  works  (Lebert),  2  Y oh.;— Collection 
Litolff  contains  61  Sonatas  in  3  Vols.,   and  the  Gradus  ad  Parnas- 


—    96    — 

sum  I,  n,  III;  —  Edition  Peters  contains  4  Vols,  of  Sonatas,  and  the 
Grad.  ad  Parn.  in  3  Vols.;  —  Carl  Tausig  has  furnished  selected 
Etudes  from  the  Grad.  ad  Parn.  with  fingerings  and  Notes,  which 
serve  as  an  excellent  preparation  for  modern  demands  on  pianoforte 
virtuosity  (publ.  by  T.  Trautwein,  Berlin). 

Among  the  pupils  of  Clementi  finding  special  mention  further  on, 
J.  B.  Cramer  and  L.  Berger  chiefly  propagated  the  solid  virtuosity  of 
their  master;  whereas  A.  A.  Klengel  cultivated  almost  exclusively  the 
art  of  counterpoint,  and  John  Field  was  wholly  plunged  in  the  deeps 
of  emotional  life. 

Contemporaries  of  Emanuel  Bach,  Haydn,  Mozart, 

and  Clementi. 

The  brilliant  performances  of  illustrious  virtuosi,  and  the  success- 
ful representations  of  the  works  of  creative  tone -poets,  always  call 
into  being  a  swarm  of  parasites  in  every  sense  of  the  term.  Such 
press  in,  in  order  to  participate  in  the  opulent  banquets  of  the 
former,  and  to  distribute  thereafter  to  the  numberless  throng  of 
dilettanti  the  stale  and  diluted  scraps  of  their  booty;  not  forgetting, 
however,  to  revile  and  disparage  those  mighty  ones  to  whom  they 
owe  their  existence.  Such  are  they  who  disgustingly  ape  certain 
externalities  and  effects,  forced  out  of  their  true  connection,  of 
eminent  artists,  and  also  the  brainless  scribblers  who  flood  the  market 
with  their  fashionable  articles,  in  which  they  have  stupidly  set  the 
stolen  and  dismembered  gems. — But  disciples  and  admirers  also  draw 
near,  seeking  to  fathom  the  spirit  capable  of  producing  such  imposing 
effects,  to  gain  enlightenment  from  their  master  regarding  revelations 
of  art,  and  to  spread  the  same  further  and  further  in  his  sense; — 
these  are  the  only  parasites  of  merit,  the  priests  of  the  same  divinity, 
who  are  called,  in  the  primitive  meaning  of  the  term,  to  enjoy  the 
feast  of  sacrifice  together  with  the  High  Priest.  The  former  kind, 
who  produce  their  countless  fabrications  after  certain  easily  handled 
patterns,  have  sometimes  exercised  a  mischievous  influence  on  the 
taste  of  the  great  mass  of  dilettanti  during  considerable  periods,  and 
can  therefore  be  no  more  left  out  of  this  historical  sketch  than  the 
latter  class,  who  have  often  been  the  first  to  spread  the  more  peculiar 
and  original  style  of  their  models  in  composition,  and  to  render  the 
same  intelligible,  in  wider  circles,  through  their  attractive  perfor; 
manees  and  compositions. 


—     97     — 

One  of  the  earliest  of  the  voluminous  spoilers  of  taste,  whose 
witless  "Fantasias  and  Variations,  Storm  and  Battle  Pieces,  Pot- 
pourris, Eondeaux,  and  Bacchanales"  encumbered  all  pianoforte  racks 
for  a  season,  was  Daniel  Steibelt.  He  was  born  about  1765  in 
Berlin,  and  had  instruction  from  Kirnberger  in  clavier- playing  and 
composition.  After  various  professional  trips  undertaken  through 
Germany  from  his  fifteenth  year,  he  settled  down  in  Paris  in  1790, 
where  he  behaved  with  the  greatest  arrogance,  and  vanquished  as 
a  virtuoso  both  the  German  clavierist  Johann  David  Herrmann  then 
living  there,  who  enjoyed  the  special  favor  of  the  Queen  Marie 
Antoinette,  and  Ignaz  Pleyel,  who  had  gained  great  popularity  as  a 
composer.  In  1793  he  composed  in  Paris  the  opera  "Romeo  et 
Juliette",  the  brilliant  success  of  which  made  him  the  lion  of  the 
day.  Ladies  from  the  highest  circles  became  his  pupils,  and  often 
looked  upon  his  extremely  unbecoming  behavior  as  eccentricity,  until 
more  serious  faults  obliged  him  to  leave  Paris  in  1798.  In  London, 
where  he  then  dwelt  for  a  considerable  time,  he  married  a  charm- 
ing Englishwoman,  who  now  accompanied  him  on  the  tambourine  to 
noisy  pieces  specially  written  for  that  purpose.  Steibelt  was,  alto- 
gether, a  hero  of  effect,  as  the  following  titles  of  bis  clavier- pieces, 
for  instance,  testify:  Combat  naval,  op.  41;  Sonate  martiale,  op.  82; 
Bataille  de  Gemappc  et  de  Ncerwinde;  "The  Destruction  of  Moscow", 
Leipzig,  Peters;  etc.  etc.  Of  all  these  tone-paintings,  "I'Orage,  pre- 
cede d'un  Rondeau  pastorale"  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel),  the  Finale 
of  his  third  Concerto,  met  with  the  greatest  success,  making  the 
rounds  through  the  hands  of  all  dilettanti  of  the  time.  Steibelt  later 
visited  Hamburg,  Dresden,  Prague,  Berlin,  and  Vienna,  gave  brilliant 
concerts  everywhere,  and  always  found  as  many  admirers  as  con- 
demnors of  his  tactless  and  affected  style  and  his  shallow  compositions. 
Gerber  reports,  that  on  his  return  to  Germany  he  was  ashamed  of 
his  mother-tongue,  and  acted  sometimes  the  haughty  Englishman,  at 
others  the  arrogant  Frenchman.  One  grand  effect  he  sought  to  pro- 
duce with  the  but  meagerly  artistic  and  frequently  employed  tremo- 
lando  in  both  hands,  by  which  style  of  playing  he  could  likewise 
conceal  the  weakness  of  his  left  hand.  The  form  of  the  "Fantasia 
with  Variations",  which  he  brought  especially  into  vogue,  had  been 
employed  before,  as  we  saw,  by  Hassler;  it  was  at  the  same  time 
the  favorite  style  in  the  "free  Fantasia".  But  he  was  the  inventor 
of  the  prosaic  "Bacchanales"  just  mentioned,  to  which  his  spouse 
beat  the  tambourine  with  her  own  hand,  "most  artistically  and  grace- 


—     98     — 

fully",  in  the  concerts  given  at  Prag-ue,  Berlin,  and  Vienna,  and  of 
which  10  series,  each  containing-  6  of  the  same  for  Pianoforte  and 
Tambourine,  sometimes  with  Triangle  as  well,  were  published  in 
Paris  by  Pleyel,  Erard,  and  others,  in  Offenbach  by  Andre,  and  in 
Leipzig  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel.  In  1808  Steibelt  became  Kapell- 
meister of  the  French  Opera  at  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  died  in  the 
year  1823.  He  left  his  family  in  very  straightened  circumstances; 
but  a  concert  arranged  for  their  relief  yielded  40,000  rubels.  This 
fact,  together  with  the  host  of  compositions  for  which  he  everywhere 
found  generously  paying  publishers,  testifies  to  the  great  popularity 
which  he  enjoyed  during  some  twenty  years,  though  hardly  more 
than  a  talented  naturalistic  player  and  composer.  He  left  7  Piano- 
forte Concertos  (among  them  a  Grand  Concerto  militaire  in  £'-minor 
with  accompaniment  of  tivo  orchestras),  of  which  Nos.  1  to  5  were 
published  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  also  several  Quintets,  Quartets,  and 
Trios,  65  Pianoforte  Sonatas  with  Violin  or  Flute,  46  Sonatas  for 
Pianoforte  solo,  and  countless  Fantasias,  Piondos,  Etudes,  Dances,  etc. 
Emanuel  Bach  was  already  69  years  of  age,  when  the  young, 
amiable,  and  versatile  Johann  Ludwig  Dussek  (b.  1760  in  Czaslau, 
Bohemia)  paid  him  a  visit  in  Hamburg.  The  latter  had  previously 
found  most  flattering  approval  in  Amsterdam,  whither  he  had  followed 
his  eminent  patron,  and  also  at  the  Hague  (where  his  first  compo- 
sitions, "Trois  Concertos  pour  le  Pianoforte,  deux  Violons,  Alto  et 
Basse,  Op.  1",  were  printed)  by  reason  of  the  pleasing  melodies, 
supported  by  rich  harmonies,  of  his  works,  and  likewise  through  his 
clean  and  melodious  pianoforte  style;  nevertheless,  he  did  not  wish 
to  pursue  an  artistic  career  without  the  approbation  of  the  revered 
master  named  above.  Emanuel  Bach  immediately  recognized  the 
eminent  talent  of  the  young  virtuoso  and  composer,  encouraged  him 
to  follow  the  path  already  entered  on,  and  aided  him  with  his  advice 
and  efficient  recommendations.  Dussek  first  proceeded  to  Berlin  and 
thence  to  St.  Petersburg,  winning  fullest  applause  as  a  virtuoso  on 
the  pianoforte  and  also  on  the  "Glasharmonica"  newly  'nvented  by 
Hessel  in  that  city.  He  then  visited  Paris  and  Milan  with  like 
favorable  results,  went  to  France  for  a  second  time  in  1788,  and 
settled  in  London  in  1792.  Here  he  contracted  a  friendship  for 
Clcmenti,  but  unluckily  became  a  partner  in  a  music  business,  the 
failure  of  which  necessitated  his  flight  to  Hamburg  in  1800.  In 
London  he  had  published  a  Pianoforte  Method,  issued  later  both  in 
Paris  and  Leipzig;  also  a  Sonata  belonging  to  the  same  period,  "Les 


—     99     — 

adieux  de  Clemeuti",  in  Eip^  op.  44,  and  further,  the  earlier  6  Sonatas 
op.  9  and  10  (Leipzig:,  Breitkopf  &  Plartel),  and  "3  Graudes  Souates", 
op.  35  (Offenbach,  Andre),  all  of  which  he  ranked  with  his  most 
successful  works.  At  Magdeburg  in  1802  he  was  presented  to  Prince 
Louis  Ferdinand  of  Prussia  (1772  —  1806),  who  induced  him  to 
accompany  him  as  teacher  and  friend.  The  Prince  was  himself  an 
excellent  pianoforte  virtuoso  and  composer.  Beethoven,  who  met  him 
at  Berlin  in  1796,  lauded  his  playing,  which,  he  said,  was  not  at  all 
princely,  but  that  of  a  good  musician.  Louis  Ferdinand's  compo- 
sitions— among  which  the  Quartet  in  i^- minor  for  Pianoforte,  Violin, 
Viola,  and  Violoncello  (op.  6,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel)  deserves 
special  mention  on  account  of  its  heartfelt,  mournfully  elegiac  expres- 
sion— are  full  of  original  touches  and  characteristic  motives,  though 
frequently  disfigured  by  amateurish  incorrectnesses  of  style.  Dussek 
remained  with  the  Prince  until  the  heroic  death  of  the  latter  on 
the  ill-starred  field  of  Saalfeld,  in  1806.  To  his  memory  Dussek 
dedicated  a  valuable  Sonata  in  I^j^-minor,  entitled  "Elegie  harmonique 
sur  la  mort  de  Louis  Ferdinand,  Prince  de  Prusse",  op.  61,  Leipzig, 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  and  an  Andante,  extraordinarily  popular  at  the 
time,  in  B\>,  "La  Consolation",  op.  62,  same  publ.  In  the  year  1808 
he  again  visited  Paris,  where  he  now  remained  until  his  death  in 
1812.  When  he  arrived  there,  the  violinists  Rode  and  Baillot,  and 
the  violoncellist  Lamare,  were  giving  brilliant  concerts  in  the  Odeon. 
But  Dussek,  who  also  gave  performances  in  the  same  place,  not  only 
threw  these  famous  artists  into  the  shade  by  his  brilliant  playing, 
but  celebrated  triumphs  outrivalling  by  far  the  successes  of  the  piano- 
forte virtuosi  Steibelt  and  Woelfl,  who  had  played  there  shortly  before. 
His  13  Pianoforte  Concertos  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel),  the  tenth 
of  which  in  JBl?  is  written  for  two  pianofortes,  and  also  his  Sonatas 
(33  have  been  issued  by  same  publ),  Bondos,  Fantasias,  and  Varia- 
tions, formed  on  their  appearance  the  study  of  all  ambitious  piano- 
forte players.  One  of  the  most  valuable  and  best-developed  sonatas 
is  op.  70,  '"Le  retour  a  Paris",  in  A\?.  The  pianoforte  setting  of  the 
same  is  richer  and  fuller  than  that  of  any  of  his  predecessors; 
chords  in  the  compass  of  a  ninth  or  tenth  are  frequently  employed 
for  either  hand,  and  enhannonics  are  applied  in  various  passages; 
e.  g.  after  the  first  movement  closing  in  J.l?-major,  there  begins  an 
Adagio  in  jEJ- major,  followed  by  a  Scherzo — then  in  any  event  a 
rare  intermezzo  in  the  pianoforte  sonata — which  begins  with  the 
jp^-minor  triad  and  ends  in  J.l?-major.    In  equally  surprising  fashion 

7* 


—     100     — 

the  Finale,  shortly  before  the  close,  makes  a  sharp  transition  to 
J.-inajor,  but  retui'ns  directly  to  the  principal  key  J.l7-major  through 
the  chords  a-c^-e  and  g-b\?-d\>-el>.  Dussek's  Pianoforte  Works  have 
been  issued  in  12  caJtiers  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  newer  and  cheaper 
editions  are  in  Collection  Litolff,  Complete  Sonatas  and  Sonatinas, 
2  Vols.  (Kohler  &  Winkler),  and  Edition  Peters,  Sonatas  and  Pieces, 
1  Vol. 

Virtuosity  was  valued  by  this  meritorious  artist  solely  in  so  far 
as  it  is  adapted  to  give  to  a  peculiarly  agitated  and  elevated  mood 
a  yet  more  animated  expression  by  means  extraordinarily  enhanced. 
Another  contemporary,  however,  Joseph  Woelfl,  eleven  years  his 
junior,  chiefly  calculated  his  compositions,  in  which  a  loftier  vein 
was  often  lacking,  to  exhibit  a  technique  acquired  by  untiring  appli- 
cation in  a  style  the  more  dazzling  by  contrast;  but  was  able  to 
awaken  only  a  passing  interest  in  exhibitions  of  ^'irtuosity  otherwise 
quite  empty.  He  was  born  in  Salzburg  in  1772,  still  early  enough 
to  enjoy  the  instruction  of  the  aged  Leopold  Mozart,  and  of  the 
excellent  composer  Michael  Haydn,  in  clavier-playing  and  composition. 
In  1793  he  commenced  his  professional  tours  to  Warsaw  and  Vienna, 
stayed  in  the  latter  place  until  1798,  and  journeyed  then  to  Prague, 
Dresden,  Leipzig,  Berlin,  and  Hamburg,  his  brilliant  performances 
being  everywhere  received  with  astonishment  and  admiration.  He 
vanquished  the  greatest  difficulties  in  his  compositions  with  playful 
ease,  and  the  "Leipziger  musikalische  Zeitung"  relates  as  a  specimen 
the  following  occurrence  in  Prague:  "The  orchestra  had  already 
assembled  for  the  rehearsal  of  his  concert,  and  the  parts  of  a  piano- 
forte concerto  in  C,  written  by  himself,  were  already  distributed; 
but  his  pianoforte  had  not  yet  come.  At  length  the  porters  bring  it, 
and  behold!  it  is  tuned  a  semitone  too  low.  The  tuner  demands  an 
hour  for  tuning  it  to  pitch. — You  don't  mean  it! — says  Woelfl  quite 
coolly; — please  have  the  kindness  to  begin;  I  must  transpose!— And 
he  actually  played,  in  Cji-major,  one  of  the  most  difficult  concertos 
that  had  ever  been  heard  in  Dresden,  and  that  with  an  ease, 
readiness,  accuracy,  and  precision,  which  astounded  the  entire  or- 
chestra."— Woelfl  having  written  but  one  Grand  Concerto  militaire  in 
(7-major  (Offenbach,  Autlre),  the  same  is  probably  identical  with  that 
so  transposed  by  him.  Woelfl  was  later  received  in  London  with 
the  same  enthusiasm  as  in  the  German  capitals.  But  in  Paris,  where 
he  arrived  in  1801,  he  was  unable  to  dim  the  memory  of  Steibelt, 
so  celebrated  there  only  a  short  time  before,  and  could  obtain  only 


—     101     — 

a  small,  though  highly  appreciative  audience  for  his  performances. 
His  evil  star  pursued  him  on  his  journey  to  Brussels;  he  therefore 
returned  to  London  in  1805,  hut  could  not  succeed  in  regaining  his 
former  brilliant  position  there;  and  the  virtuoso,  who  could  measure 
himself  with  a  Beethoven  during  his  stay  in  Vienna,  died  in  London 
so  unnoticed,  that  even  the  year  of  his  death  (1811  or  1814)  cannot 
be  ascertained  positively.— His  published  compositions  include  6  Piano- 
forte Concertos  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  and  Offenbach,  Andre), 
18  Trios,  35  Duos,  and  more  than  40  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  solo, 
besides  a  great  number  of  Fantasias,  Fugues,  Rondos,  Variations. 
A  work  published  by  him  under  the  title  of  "Methode  de  Piano, 
op.  56,  2  Parties"  (Offenbach,  Andre),  contains  100  Exercises,  among 
which  are  found  valuable  compositions  with  interesting  technique  and 
pianoforte  effects.  Of  his  Sonatas  he  seems,  from  their  titles,  to 
have  considered  the  following  as  the  boldest:  "Le  diable  k  quatre" 
(op.  50,  Offenbach,  Andre),  and  "Non  plus  ultra"  (op.  41,  Leipzig, 
Peters).  The  latter,  in  F- major,  begins  with  a  short  Adagio  in. 
^/^  time,  serving  as  an  introduction  to  the  following  Allegro  moderato 
in  ^/^  time.  This  movement  is  founded  on  a  prosaic,  6tude-like 
passage  in  thirds,  performed  by  both  hands  alternately  or  together 
in  octaves,  and  accompanied  by  a  commonplace  counter-theme.  The 
second  and  equally  insignificant  theme  is  intertwined  in  the  episodes 
by  similar  passages  in  thirds,  and  the  coda  is  likewise  formed  in 
part  by  the  same.  Then  follows  an  Andante  in  0- major,  in  the 
simplest  two-phrase  song-form;  and  as  a  Finale  appears  a  series  of 
variations  on  "Life  let  us  cherish".  In  these  Woelfl  evidently  aimed 
at  displaying  his  then  unheard-of  technique  as  brilliantly  as  possible; 
though  they  offer  the  modern  pianist  merely  the  following  difficulties, 
hardly  calculated  to  elicit  applause:— In  Var.  4  the  right  hand  plays 
the  theme  to  broken  chords  in  the  left,  at  the  same  time  crossing 
over  the  latter  several  times  in  each  measure  to  strike  the  funda- 
mental bass  of  the  harmony;  Var.  6  carries  out  octave  passages,  now 
in  the  right  hand  and  now  in  the  left;  in  Var.  7  each  hand  is 
required  to  execute  a  continuous  trill,  as  it  were,  between  bass 
and  soprano;  Var.  8  has  the  theme  in  the  alto,  from  the  tones  of 
which  continuous  leaps  are  made  in  sixteenth-notes  to  the  tonic  or 
dominant  sometimes  two  octaves  higher.  None  of  these  Variations 
are  provide  with  richer  harmonies  than  the  theme  itself,  and  would 
therefore  be  of  only  historical  interest  to  our  modern  concert -going 
public. 


—     102     — 

August  Eberhard  Miiller  (b.  1767  in  Nordheim)  devoted  his 
powers  in  another  way,  and  with  more  quiet  thoughtfulness,  to  de- 
veloping and  popularizing  genuine  skill  by  various  excellent  text- 
books for  the  pianoforte.  In  his  youth  he  travelled  in  North  Ger- 
many, sojourned  during  1792  in  Berlin,  and  especially  charmed  his 
hearers  by  performances  of  Mozart's  Pianoforte  Concertos.  This  ap- 
probation induced  him  in  1797  to  publish  in  Leipzig  an  "Anleituug 
zum  genauen  und  richtigen  Vortrage  der  Mozart'schen  Clavierconcerte 
in  Absicht  riehtiger  Applicatur"  (Guide  to  the  exact  and  correct 
Eendering  of  ]\Iozart's  Pianoforte  Concertos  with  a  View  to  a  correct 
Fingering).  In  1804  he  also  published  in  Jena  a  "Clavier-  und  Forte- 
piano-Schule  (Clavichord  and  Pianoforte  Method)  or  a  Guide  to  a 
correct  and  tasteful  Execution  on  both  Instruments,  with  an  Appendix 
on  Thoroughbass"  (the  Appendix  is  taken  from  the  earlier  Clavier- 
sciiiile  by  G.  S.  Lohlein),  which  in  particular  treats  exhaustively,  both 
theoretically  and  practically,  of  practical  Fingering.  From  1794 
A.  E.  Miiller  acted  as  organist  of  the  two  principal  churches  in 
Leipzig,  went  to  Weimar  as  Hofkapellmeister  in  1809,  and  died  there 
in  the  year  1817.  As  a  Supplement  to  his  CJaviersclmle  he  published 
several  cahiers  of  "Pieces  instructives"  and  "Sonates  progressives"; 
among  his  larger  compositions,  which  are  peculiarly  euphonious  and 
practically  arranged,  the  following  are  prominent:  Caprice,  op.  4, 
Offenbach,  Andre;  Grands  Caprices,  op.  29,  31,  34,  and  41,  in 
5  cahiers,  Leipzig,  Peters;  and  the  posthumous  work  "Cadenzas  to 
the  eight  finest  Pianoforte  Concertos  of  Mozart",  same  publ. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  in  Vienna,  after  Mozart  had 
taken  up  his  abode  there,  pianoforte-playing  was  cultivated  with 
peculiar  fondness.  Two  composers  mentioned  before,  J.  B.  Wanhal 
(1739—1813)  and  L.  Kozeluch  (1753—1814),  who  survived  him 
and  whose  later  works  clearly  show  the  beneficial  influence*  of  that 
"High  Priest",  were  at  the  same  time  active  teachers;  and  a  pupil 
of  the  latter,  Marie  Therese  Paradles  (1759—1824),  stricken  with 
l)lindness  in  her  third  year,  won  a  name  not  only  in  her  native  city, 
Vienna,  but  also  in  Paris,  London,  Berlin,  etc.,  as  a  distinguished 
pianist,  often  moving  the  hearers  to  tears  by  her  affecting  interpre- 
tations.    For  her  IMozart  wrote  one  of  his  Pianoforte  Concertos,  and 


*  Compare  Wanhal,  Sonata  in  F,  opera  tdtima,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  and 
also  Kozeluch,  3  Sonates,  op.  51,  Leipzig,  Peters,  with  earlier  similar  Piano- 
forte works  by  these  composers. 


—     103     — 

his  heart-stirring  style  of  phiying  cannot  but  have  had  an  influence 
on  her  o^Yn,  and  on  that  of  her  numerous  pupils.  The  g'ifted  Anton 
Eberl  (1766 — 1807)  of  Vienna  also  early  became  enthusiastic  for  the 
art  of  music.  As  his  wealthy  parents  liad,  however,  forced  him  to 
become  a  lawyer,  he  published  his  first  attempts  at  composition — 
Pianoforte  Variations  on  "Zu  Steffen  sprach  im  Traume",  on  the  Sa- 
voy arde  song  "Ascoulta  Jeannette",  and  on  "Bei  Mannern,  welch  e 
Liebe  fiihlen" — in  1792,  under  the  name  of  his  late  friend  Mozart. 
In  like  manner  one  of  his  Sonatas  in  C-minor  was  published  as 
Mozart's  op.  47  at  Vienna  and  Offenbach,  and  by  Pleyel  in  Paris  as 
the  "Derniere  grande  Sonate  de  Mozart",  not  appearing-  until  1798 
under  the  name  of  its  real  author  (Vienna,  Artaria).  Mozart  would 
scarcely  have  consented  to  this  exchange  of  names,  for  Eberl's  piano- 
forte works,  though  displaying  and  striving  toward  definiteness  and 
unity  of  conception,  have  by  no  means  the  inventive  genius  and 
purity  of  style  of  his  model.  His  parents  subsequently  losing  their 
property  through  unfortunate  accidents,  Eberl  devoted  himself  exclu- 
sively to  music;  among  his  later  compositions  the  following  deserve 
mention:  Grande  Sonate  char  act  eristiqiie  in  I^-minor  dedicated  to 
Haydn,  op.  12,  Peters,  Leipzig;  and  his  last  work,  written  for  Maria 
Pawlowna,  Erhprinscssin  of  Weimar,  who  wished  to  possess  a  compo- 
sition in  pathetic  style  by  him,  which  was  issued  after  his  death  as 
Grande  Sonate  op.  39,  in  Leipzig,  Peters.  The  first  Allegro  appas- 
sionato of  this  composition  closes  on  the  full  (r-minor  ti*iad,  and  the 
following  Adagio  then  modulates  to  jEZ-major  in  the  harshest  manner 
through  the  sustained  tones  B,  Gi,  E.  The  7th  measure  of  this  se- 
cond movement  has  a  held  tone  in  the  outer  parts,  such  as  we  find 
again  later  in  Beethoven's  works,  for  example;  in  the  8th  and  9th 
measures  a  sustained  soprano  accompanied  by  staccato  chords  ap- 
pears, a  style  later  employed  so  effectively  by  C.  M.  von  Weber  and 
others.  Generally  speaking,  Eberl's  pianoforte  style  sometimes  even 
attains  to  the  full  wealth  of  tone,  but  not  to  the  purity  and  fresh 
elan,  of  his  contemporary  Dussek;  whose  works  are  wrongfully  al- 
most forgotten,  for  they  oftentimes  develop  an  opulence  of  ideas  not 
found  in.  equal  measure  in  the  compositions  of  Friedrich  Kuhlau 
(b.  1786  in  Litneburg),  who  is  still  in  high  favor  in  Denmark.  This 
composer,  also  much  esteemed  in  Germany  for  a  time,  died  at  Copen- 
hagen in  1832  as  Hof kapellmeister.  His  numerous  published  com- 
positions afford,  it  is  true,  no  fresh  creative  ideas,  but  are  written 
throughout   in  a  serious   and  elevated  st}4e.     We   mention   the   fol- 


—     104     — 

lowing:  Trois  Sonates,  op.  52,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  Gr.  Sonate  hrUliante, 
op.  127;  Trois  Sonates  faciles  et  brill,  a  4  mains,  op.  Q6]  Allegro 
pathetiqiie  a  4  mains,  op.  123;  and  a  great  number  of  Duos  for 
Pianoforte  with  Violin  or  Flute,  four-handed  Sonatas,  Rondos,  and 
Variations,  puhl.  in  Leipzig  by  Peters,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  and  Hof- 
meister, 

Kuhlau's  instructive  Pianoforte  Pieces  have  been  issued  in  new, 
cheap  editions:— Edition  Peters,  Sonatinas,  2  Vols.;  Rondos  and  Va- 
riations, 1  Vol.  —  Collection  Litolff,  Sonatinas,  2  Vols;  Rondos  and 
Variations,.  1  Vol. — Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  Sonatinas,  boards,  red. 

Clementrs  Pupils. 

Before  taking  up  a  new  period  of  Pianoforte-playing,  we  must 
more  closely  consider  the  influence  of  the  pupils  of  Clementi  and 
Mozart,  who  strove  to  maintain  and  develop  the  lyrical  and  contra- 
puntal pianoforte  style  foremostly  cherished- by  their  masters. 

We  first  name  Johann  Baptist  Cramer  (1771—1858),  dementi's 
most  zealous  pupil  from  1783  to  1784.  In  London  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  Haydn,  who  afterwards  received  him  very  cordially  in 
Vienna,  where  Cramer,  as  in  several  other  German  cities,  gave 
successful  concerts,  distinguishing  himself  in  particular '  by  his  tender 
and  singing  delivery  of  the  adagio.  He  dwelt  from  1832  to  1845 
in  Paris,  though  otherwise  living  chiefly  in  England,  where  he  died 
ia  the  year  1858.  Cramer  left  105  Pianoforte  Sonatas,  7  Concertos, 
3  Duos  for  4  hands,  a  Quintet  and  a  Quartet  (both  for  Pianoforte 
and  strings),  2  numbers  of  Nocturnes,  op.  32  and  54,  and  innumerable 
insignificant  Fantasias,  Rondos,  etc.  His  once  very  popular  Piano- 
forte Method  was  published  in  Offenbach  (Andr6),  and  other  places; 
but  in  greater  detail  as  op.  98  in  four  parts,  Berlin,  Schlesinger. 
His  excellent  Text-books  "Etude  en  42  Exercices  doigt^s",  and  also 
the  "Suite  de  I'Etude  en  42  Exercices",  liave  likewise  been  published 
in  various  places;  in  conception  and  form  they  belong  to  classic 
Pianoforte  Literature,  and  form  fitting  companion  pieces  and  supple- 
ments to  the  Studies  of  his  teacher. 

Among  the  many  editions  of  Cramer's  text-books,  one  is  of  such 
pre-eminent  importance,  that  teachers  and  students  of  the  pianoforte 
will  be  grateful  to  me  for  calling  their  attention  to  it.  It  was 
published  in  Munich  by  Jos.  Aibl,  and  bears  the  title:  "50  ausge- 
wahlte   Klavieretuden    von    J.   B.   Cramer"    (50   Selected   Pianoforte 


—     105     — 

Etudes  by  J.  B.  Cramer).  "In  systematic  progression,  with  a  thorougli 
critical  revision  of  the  fingering,  and  marks  of  expression,  together 
with  instructive  Notes,  for  Use  in  the  Pianoforte  Classes  of  the  Koyal 
Music  School  at  Munich.  Edited  by  Dr.  Hans  von  Btilow."  The 
Editor,  equally  pre-eminent  as  an  interpreter  of  classic  pianoforte 
works  and  as  a  maestro  of  the  loftier  pianoforte  style,  has  furnished 
each  of  these  Etudes  with  such  classical  annotations,  that  the  latter 
alone  are  a  sufficient  inducement  to  begin  and  carry  out  the  study 
of  the  Etudes  as  therein  directed.  For  the  benefit  of  my  book 
I  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  quoting  the  general  technical 
course  of  study  approved  by  Billow  in  his  practice  as  a  teacher^ 
"It  embraces  all  stages,  from  Beginner  to  Virtuoso." 

"After  the  first  'rudiments'  have  been  conquered,  to  which  end 
the  first  Part  of  the  Lebert-Stark  Pianoforte  Method  (Stuttgart,  Cotta, 
new  edition)  is  most  reeommendable,  as  being  to  the  best  of  our 
knowledge  the  most  reliable  aid,  there  may  follow: 

'(I.)  a.  The  Etudes  by  AIops  Sclimitt,  op.  16  (Bonn,  Simrock),  in 
connection  with  the  'Exercices  preparatoires'  introducing 
the  first  number— always  to  be  practiced  in  all  12  keys. 
It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  master  Felix  Mendelssohn- 
Bartholdy,  also  eminent  as  a  pianist,  laid  with  this  work 
the  foundation  of  his  classical  technique, 
b.  To  counteract  Schmitt's-  relative  dryness,  secondary  em- 
ployment of  Stephen  Heller,  op.  45.  ■  •  ^ 
-  (11.)  a.  J.  B.  Cramer's  Etudes.  Perhaps  at  same  time,  as  intro- 
duction to  Bach's  style,  the  latter'S/ Preludes  and  Inventions. 

b.  St.  Heller,  op.  46,  47. 

c.  G.  Czerny,  Daily  Studies,  with  his  collection  ^  of  Etudes, 
hitherto  strangely  not  noticed  according  to  desert,  entitled 
'The-  School  of  the  Legato  and  Staccato'. 

(in.)    a.  Clementi,  Gradus  ad  Parnassum  (selected  and  edited  by 
Carl  Tausig). 
b.  Mosclieles,  op.  70,  24  Etudes;    a  work  better  known  in 
North  than  in  South  Germany,  to  which  the  epithet  "clas- 
sical" applies  unqualifiedly. 
(TV.)    a.  Henselt,  Selected  Etudes  from  op.  2  and  5. 

b.  Together  with  and  as  preparation  for  the  latter:  Haherhier, 
"Etudes-po6sies"  (Hamburg,  Cranz),  a  sort  of  sequel  to 
Stephen  Heller. 


—     106     — 

c.  Selected  pieces  by  Mosclicles:  "Charakteristische  Etuden", 
op.  75. 
(V.)    CJiopin,  op.  10  and  op.  25,  in  conjunction  with  the  study  of 
separate  Preludes  (special  style  of  technique)  in  his  op.  28. 
(VI.)   Lis^t,  6  Etudes  after  Paganiui  (Leipzig-,  Breitkopf  &  Hitrtel); 
3  Concert  Etudes   (Leipzig,   Kistner);   the  12  grand  Etudes 
"d'execution  transcendante"  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel). 
(VIL)   Rubinstein,  Selected  Etudes  and  Preludes;    V.  G.  AlJcan,   12 
grandes  Etudes  (selected);  Theodor  KtiUaa's  School  of  Octave- 
playing;  and  other  useful  specialties  of  a  subordinate  nature^ 
,    for  purely  technical  ends. 

J.B.Cramer's  accomplished  fellow-pupil  Ludwig  Berges'  (1777 — 
1839),  whom  we  left  in  St,  Petersburg,  returned  to  his  native  land 
after  the  full  restoration  of  peace,  living  from  1815  onward  in  Berlin 
as  a  tliorough  and  popular  music  teacher.  He  dedicated  to  Clementi 
a  Grande  Sonate  pathefique  in  O-minor  (op.  7,  Leipzig,  Peters);  other 
of  his  well-written  and  full-sounding  Pianoforte  Works,  published  by 
Schlesinger  of  Berlin,  are  Alia  turca,  op.  8;  Preludes  et  Fugues, 
op.  5;  3  Pieces  caracteristiques ,  op.  24;  by  Hofmeister  in  Leipzig 
Air  norvegien  varie,  Toccata  in  F,  Concerto  in  G,  J^ttides,  op.  12, 
22,  30,  and  41;  and  Bagatelles,  op.  39  and  40.  It  is  mainly  the 
following  pupils  of  L.  Berger  who,  taking  him  as  their  model,  have 
adhered  to  the  style  of  playing  and  composition  of  the  Clementi 
school,  and  continued  the  same  to  the  present  day:  Carl  Wilhelm 
Greulich  (1796—1837),  the  following-  of  whose  compositions  belong 
here:  Grosse  Sonate,  op.  12  (Berlin,  Schlesinger);  Sonate,  op.  21 
(ditto).  —  Heinrich  Dorn  (b.  1804),  among  whose  published  composi- 
tions is  an  interesting-  elementary  work  entitled  "Surprise  du  jeune 
Pianiste,  Romance  a  4  mains",  in  which  the  first  player  touches  only 
the  black  keys  (Berlin,  Jul.  Weiss);  also  an  original  pianoforte  piece, 
"The  Sphmx",  in  ^^  time  (Stuttgart,  Hallberger).— Wilhelm  Taubert 
(b.  1811)  dedicated  to  his  teacher  Berger  a  thoughtfully  written 
Sonate  (op.  4,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister),  and  published  among  numerous 
other  pianoforte  compositions  the  often-played  "Gampanella,  jStude  de 
Concert",  (op.  41,  Berlin,  Schlesinger);  the  cleanly  written  and  pleas- 
ing salon  pieces  Minnelieder  olme  Worte  (op.  16  and  45,  Berlin, 
Bote  &  Bock),  Camera  ohscura,  10  Bagatelles  aux  jeunes  Sieves 
(op.  38,  Berlin,  Bahn),  Silvana  (op.  60,  ditto),  Tans  der  Meerfrdidein 
(Mermaids'  Dance,  op.  98,  Berlin,  Bote  &  Bock),   Lied  und  Beigen 


—     107     — 

(op.  119,  Stuttgart,  Hallberger),  Triibcr  Mai,  MondnacJif,  Heimh'che 
Falirf,  TJnter  Rosen  (op,  121,  Leipzig,  Siegel),  and  a  Trio  for  Piauo- 
,forte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello  (op.  32,  Berlin,  Bote  &  Bock). — Albert 
Loeschhorn  (b.  1819),  also  a  pupil  of  Berger,  published  a  series  of 
easily  executable  salon  pieces,  and  the  following  very  useful  Etudes: 
30  Etudes  melodieuses,  progressives  et  doigiees  (op.  38  and  52,  Leipzig, 
Peters),  Etudes  progressively  arranged  (op.  65,  66,  and  67,  Berlin, 
J.  Weiss).  His  op.  25,  La  helle  Amasone  (Bote  &  Bock),  was  very 
popular  for  a  time,  like  his  brilliant  Galop  op.  50,  Le  diahJe  a 
quatre. —  The  works  of  Felix  Mendelssohn,  who  first-studied  piano- 
forte playing  under  Berger  and  later  under  Moscheles,  are  specially 
mentioned  further  on. — The  compositions  of  Greulich's  talented  pupil 
Carl  Eckert  (b.  1820)  must  still  be  noticed;  a  Trio  for  Pianoforte, 
Violin,  and  Violoncello  in  ^-minor,  op.  18,  and  twelve  CharaMer- 
stiicJce,  op.  17,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. 

August  Alexander  Klengel  (1783—1852),  who,  as  we  have  seen, 
accompanied  his  teacher  Clementi  to  St,  Petersburg,  went  in  1811  to 
Paris,  later  visiting  Italy  and  England,  and  finally  took  up  his  per- 
manent abode  in  Dresden  in  1816  as  Hoforganist.  Before  this  time 
he 'had  published  two  Pianoforte  Concertos,  a  Trio  for  Pianoforte, 
Violin,  and  Violoncello,  a  Fantasia  for  4  hands,  a  Hondo  in  J.[?, 
op.  5;  further,  Promenade  sur  mer,  interrompue  par  une  tempete 
(op.  19,  Leipzig,  Peters),  and  other  salon  pieces;  but  subsequently 
won  an  enduring  name  in  the  annafe  of  music,  by  carrying  the  art 
of  the  canon  to  a  perfection  unattained  in  the  compositions  of  his 
most  renowned  predecessors.  Among  his  finest  contrapunta-l  works 
may  be  mentioned  Les  Avant-Coureurs,  exercices,  contenant  24  canons 
dans  tons  les  tons,  calaiUs  pour  servir  d' etude  preparatoire  au  grand 
recueil  de  Canons  et  de  Fugues.  En  deux  Suites  (Mainz,  Schott). 
This  principal  work,  however,  on  which  he  labored  untiringly  during 
the  last  decades  of  his  life,  did  not  appear  until  after  his  death, 
under  the  title  "Canons  et  Fugues  dans  tons  les  tons  majeurs  et 
mineurs  pour  le  Piano,  en  deux  parties"  (48  Canons  and  48  Fugues), 
Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  1854. 

The  more  rarely  such  strict  contrapuntal  works  are  published  in 
our  time,  the  greater  are  the  thanks  due  to  their  authors.  For  since 
the  Science  of  Chords  has  gained  more  and  more  ground,  the  Art  of 
Counterpoint,  being  no  longer  regarded  as  absolutely  essential  for 
composing,  and  also  as  decidedly  more  difficult  in  practice,  has  no 
longer  been  generally  taught  and  studied.     But  a  composition  which 


—     108     — 

merely  appeals  to  the  hearer's  feeling,  without  calling-  into  play  his 
mental  faculties  by  contrapuntal  imitations,  developments,  involutions 
and  resolutions,  cannot  hold  the  attention  for  any  length  of  time. 

Those  theoreticians,  during  and  after  the  time  of  Sebastian  Bach 
and  his  pupils,  who  were  foremost  in  the  endeavor  to  spread  the 
Science  of  Counterpoint  through  their  writings  and  pupils,  were 
J.  J.  Fux  and  J.  G-.  Albrechtsberger  in  Vienna,  Marpurg  (Trea- 
tise on  the  Fugue),  Fetis  (Traite  de  Contrepoint  et  de  Fugue),  and 
the  Italians  F.  Gius.  Paolucci  and  F.  Glajmbattista  Martini  in 
their  works  on  the  subject,  which  are  furnished  with  numerous  ex- 
cellent examples.  Latterly,  counterpoint  has  been  successfully  taught, 
more  particularly  by  oral  instruction,  by  Moritz  Hauptmann 
(1792—1868),  first  at  Cassel  and  thereafter  at  Leipzig;  S.  W.  Dehn 
(1799—1858)  at  Berlin;  E.  F.  Eichter  (1808—1879)  at  Leipzig; 
and  Immaistjel  Faisst  (b.  1823)  at  Stuttgart. 

Friedrich  Kiel  (b.  1821)  studied  the  freer  style  of  counterpoint 
under  S.  W.  Dehn,  and  published  as  op.  1  Fifteen  Canons  in  Chamber- 
style,  as  op.  10  Four  two-part  Fugties  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel);  also, 
among  many  other  compositions,  a  Trio  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and 
Violoncello,  op.  24;  3  Trios,  op.  65;  and  13  Fantasiestiiclce,  op.  8, 
3  Parts  (all  issued  by  Bote  &  Bock).  Under  the  influence  of  Moritz 
Hauptmann's  strict  method  of  counterpoint 

C.  F.  Weltzmann  (1808—1880)  published  in  Leipzig  (J.  Schu- 
berth  &  Co.)  two  numbers  of  a  new  species  of  Pianoforte  Pieces, 
entitled  "MusiJcaJiscJie  Bdthsel"  (Musical  Puzzles),  in  which  the  freer 
forms  of  the  Prelude,  Cavatina,  Rondo,  etc.,  are  performed  in  the 
shape  of  canons  by  two  players  executing  the  same  part,  beginning 
at  different  times.  The  "ContraimnJct-Studien"  published  later  by  the 
same  firm,  in  2  Parts,  contain  similar  pieces  set  in  score,  likewise 
solve  the  most  difficult  problems  of  simple  and  double  counterpoint, 
and  give,  besides  canons  and  fugues  of  every  description,  examples 
of  the  latterly  neglected  hasso  ostinato. 

John  Field,  born  in  Dublin  1782,  who  travelled  with  Clement! 
to  Russia  and  lived  from  1804  in  St.  Petersburg,  went  in  1822  to 
Moscow,  where  he  remained  till  1832,  highly  esteemed  both  as  a 
virtuoso  and  a  teacher.  He  then  undertook  a  second  professional 
journey  to  Paris;  and  his  unpretentious,  singing  style,  for  exhibiting 
which  he  chose  no  concert  grand,  but  only  a  simple  pianoforte,  again 
found  waim  appreciation.  Field  always  played  with  remarkably  quiet 
hands,  and  had  adopted  an  original  fingering,  peculiarly  favorable  to 


—    109    — 

the  binding  of  the  tones,  which  he  taught  to  his  pupils.  His  further 
travels  led  him  through  Belgium  and  Switzerland  to  Italy.  But  here 
his  simple,  tender  melodies  were  unappreciated.  In  1835  he  was 
found  in  Naples,  sick  and  in  the  utmost  destitution,  by  a  Russian 
family,  and  taken  back  to  Moscow,  where  he  died  in  1837.  Among 
his  pianoforte  compositions  were  published,  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel, 
Peters,  and  Kistner  of  Leipzig,  and  Sehlesinger  of  Berlin,  7  Concertos, 
including  No.  5,  VIncendi  par  Vorage  in  G;  4  Sonatas,  various  Exer- 
cises, JRomances,  Bondeaux,  Fantasias,  Variations,  and  Dances.  The 
Nocturnes,  musico-lyrical  poems  of  a  style  of  composition  created  by 
him,  and  occupying  the  first  place  among  his  works,  were  published 
as  follows:  Nos.  1—6  by  Kistner,  7—8  by  Peters,  9—10  by  Hof- 
meister,  11  by  Sehlesinger,  and  12 — 13  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. 
J.  Schuberth,  Leipzig,  has  published  a  selection  of  the  same,  in  an 
introduction  to  which  Franz  Liszt  raised  a  highly  poetic  memorial  to 
his  fellow -artist.  From  it  we  quote  the  following,  admirably  cha- 
racterizing the  artist  and  his  works:  "Field's  Nocturnes  retain  their 
newness  beside  much  long  since  grown  antiquated;  thirty  years  have 
passed  since  their  first  appearance,  and  still  they  exhale  a  balsamio 
freshness,  a  sweet  fragrance.    Where  else  do  we  find  such  perfection 

of  inimitable  naivete? No  one  else  has  succeeded  in  seizing  these 

intangible  harmonies  of  the  Aeolian  harp,  these  half- sighs  floating 
away  in  air,  gentle  plaints  dissolving  in  sweet  pain.  No  one  has 
dared  —  especially  none  of  those  who  themselves  have  heard  Field 
play  or  rather  dream  away  his  songs  in  moments  when,  quite  lost  in 
inspiration,  he  turned  aside  from  the  first  sketch  of  the  piece  as  it 
lived  in  his  imagination,  to  invent  new  groups  in  unbroken  succes- 
sion, winding  them  like  flower- wreaths  about  his  melodies,  to  which 
he  added  ever-new  adornments  by  this  shower  of  fragrant  blossoms, 
yet  always  so  choosing  their  garb,  that  their  tremulous  languor  and 
charmful  meanders  should  not  be  hidden,  but  only  overspread  with 
a  transparent  veil."  —  Liszt  tells  us  further,  that  Field  enchanted  his 
auditors  without  either  willing  or  knowing  it.  "The  wellnigh  motion- 
less attitude  of  his  hands,  and  his  expressionless  mien,  aroused  no 
curiosity.  —  But  just  to  this  avoidance  of  all  calculation  of  effect  do 
we  owe  the  first  so  fortunate  endeavor  to  free  the  pianoforte  style 
from  the  constraint  exercised  upon  the  same  by  the  standard  last, 
on  which  all  pieces  had  regularly  and  prescriptively  to  be  stretched. 

Formerly  a  composition  had  necessarily  to  be  a  Sonata,  a  Eondo, 

or  something  of  the  kind.    Field  was  the  first  to  introduce  a  style 


—    110    — 

deriving  its  orig-in  from  none  of  the  existing-  forms;  in  which  feeling 
and  melody  exclusively  -prevailed,  liberated  from  the  fetters  and  dross 
of  an  enforced  form.  He  cleared  the  way  for  all  subsequent  efforts 
appearing  under  the  names  of  "Songs  without  Words",  "Impromptus", 
"Ballades",  etc.;  and  up  to  him  can  be  traced  the  origin  of  those 
pieces  which  are  designed  to  express  through  tones  particular  phases 
of  emotion  and  warm  feeling". 

Carl  Mayer  (b.  1802,  d.  1862),  a  gifted  pupil  of  Field,  who  in 
his  fii'st  period  distinguished  himself  by  a  Concerto  sympJioniqite,  op.  88, 
several  brilliant  Etudes  like  op.  61,  and  other  serious  compositions, 
preferred  later  to  assume  the  function  of  a  fashionable  composer, 
and  to  write  according  to  certain  convenient  formulas  for  the  taste 
of  the  herd  of  dilettanti.  He  dwelt  for  a  length  of  time  in  Dresden, 
and  published  over  300  pianoforte  numbers,  among  which  are  found 
the  following  Exercises  and  Caprices:  op.  31,  40,  55,  61,  62,  73, 
85—87,  91—93,  97,  100,  119,  180,  200,  226  271,  and  305.  His 
remaining  compositions  include  Fantasias,  Variations,  brilliant  Dances, 
and  shorter  pieces,  belonging  to  the  lightest  "entertaining  reading 
for  amateurs",  and  contained  in  the  following  Collections:  Myrten, 
op.  106;  Mosaique,  op.  166;  ImmorteUen,  op.  140;  Ueine  Tonhilder, 
op.  172;  FrulilingsUiXt'hen,  op.  174;  Schattenspiele,  op.  198;  and  Bosen- 
hlUtJien,  op.  202. 

The  sterling  school  of  Clement!  was  perhaps  still  recognizable 
in  Carl  Mayer's  smooth  and  fluent  playing,  but  no  longer  so  in  his 
later  for  the  most  part  superficially  wrought  compositions. 

We  now  turn  to  Hummel,  Mozart's  most  eminent  pupil,  to  follow 
in  like  manner  the  course  of  the  Vienna  Pianoforte  School  down  to 
the  present  time. 

A  pupil  of  Mozart. 

Johann  Nepomuk  Hummel  was  born  in  Pressburg,  in  1778,  and 
educated  as  a  musician.  In  1785  his  father  became  conductor  of 
the  orchestra  in  Schikaneder's  theater  at  Vienna;  and  it  was  here 
that  Mozart's  interest  was  awakened  for  the  rarely  talented  boy, 
whose  finished  clavier-playing  already  created  a  stir.  Mozart  took 
him  to  his  home,  in  which  the  quick-vritted  Nepomuk  remained  for 
two  years,  gaining  instruction  not  only  from  the  spirited  performances 
of  his  teacher,  but  also  having  to  play  to  the  latter  all  novelties 
appearing  in  pianoforte  literature.     To  such  stimulating  studies   he 


—   Ill   — 

owed  the  precision  of  Ms  touch  later  so  much  admired,  the  finish  of 
his  passages,  his  readiness  in  free  improvisations  and  variations,  and 
the  clearness  and  grace  of  his  compositions.  In  the  year  1787  he 
gave  his  first  concert  as  a  pupil  of  Mozart  at  Dresden,  perform- 
ing in  the  same  the  variations  on  "Lison  dormait"  and  the  Second 
Concerto  in  C  by  Mozart,  to  the  admiration  of  all  present.  He  then 
proceeded  to  Berlin  where  he  also  arranged  a  concert;  while  playing-, 
he  suddenly  perceived  Mozart  among  the  audience,  and  hardly  had 
he  finished  the  piece,  when  he  hastened  through  the  hall  to  his  re- 
vered master,  embracing  him  amid  mutual  heartfelt  greetings.  Thence 
he  journeyed  on  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  published  his  first  work, 
a  set  of  Variations,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  Queen  of  England. 
During  1791  and  1792  he  sojourned  in  London  to  be  near  Clemeuti; 
and  the  boy,  endowed  as  he  was  with  the  most  active  receptivity, 
untiring  endurance,  and  a  teeming  imagination,  comprehended  the 
weighty  teachings  of  his  two  masters  so  thoroughly,  and  was  able 
to  combine  and  apply  them  so  aptly,  that  in  later  years  he  attained 
to  tlie  high  position  of  the  perfecter  of  the  euphonious,  lyrical  piano- 
forte style,  both  as  a  player  and  composer.  After  a  brief  stay  in 
Holland  he  returned  to  Vienna.  Here  he  studied,  over  and  above 
the  severest  piano-practice,  composition  under  Albrechtsberger  and 
Salieri,  and  his  first  Mass  was  received  by  Haydn  with  approval. 
In  Germany  Hummel's  compositions  speedily  found  general  appro- 
bation; in  Paris,  too,  Cherubini  had  his  great  Fantasia  in  E(p  (op.  18, 
Ofienbach,  Andr6)  perforaied  at  the  coneours  in  the  Conservatory,  in 
1806.  Thenceforward  his  valuable  pianoforte  works  were  everywhere 
sought  and  studied  by  all  earnest  pianists.  From  1811  to  1816  he 
was  occupied  in  Vienna  exclusively  with  pianoforte  teaching  and 
composing;  he  then  became  Kapellmeister  to  the  King  of  Wlirttem- 
berg,  and  four  years  later  accepted  a  similar  position  with  the  Grand- 
duke  of  Saxe-Weimar.  Hummel  remained  in  Weimar  until  his  decease 
in  1837,  though  at  various  times  employing  extended  leave  of  ab- 
sence for  highly  successful  professional  tours  through  Germany,  Russia, 
Belgium,  and  France.  In  the  inspired  interpretation  of  his  pianoforte 
concertos  he  showed  himself  a  finished  artist;  his  free  improvisations 
also  everywhere  aroused  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Whenever  he 
stayed  in  a  place  for  a  time,  he  was  immediately  surrounded  by 
numerous  pupils,  several  of  whom  afterwards  became  distinguished 
both  as  players  and  composers.  He  left  7  Pianoforte  Concertos,  of 
which  op.  85  in  ^-minor,  op.  89  in  J5-minor,  and  op.  113  in  J.|7-major 


—     112     — 

are  especially  noteworthy;  furthermore,  a  grand  Fantasia  with  or- 
chestral accompaniment,  "Oberon's  Zanherhorn",  op.  116;  and  vario  u 
brilliant  Rondos  for  Pianoforte  and  Orchestra,  the  finest  of  which  are 
op.  56  in  J.,  op.  98  in  jBi?,  and  op.  127  in  F]  a  grand  Sephior  in 
D-minor  for  Pianoforte,  Flute,  Oboe,  Horn,  Alto,  Violoncello,  and 
Double  Bass,  later  performed  with  brilliant  effect  by  the  eminent 
pianiste  Marie  Camiile  Pleyel  (1811 — 1875)  on  her  concert  tournSes; 
a  Quintet,  op.  87,  for  Pianoforte  and  Strings;  a  grand  Septette  mili- 
taire  for  Pianoforte,  Flute,  Violin,  Clarinet,  Trumpet,  Violoncello,  and 
Double  Bass;  7  Trios  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello;  5  So- 
natas for  Pianoforte  solo,  including  op.  81  in  i^Jf-minor,  and  a  grand 
Sonata  in  Ab,  op.  92,  for  4  hands,  both  specially  noteworthy;  the 
much-played  Folacca  ^'La  hella  Capricciosa" ,  op.  55;  besides  various 
Fantasias,  Variations,  Rondos,  Caprices,  Etudes,  Amusements,  and 
Bagatelles.  Hummel  was  also  the  author  of  an  extended  Pianoforte 
Method  (Vienna,  Haslinger),  which  surpasses  in  completeness  all 
earlier  works  of  its  class,  and  in  which  the  fingering  is  ordered  by 
definite  laws.  The  work  lacks,  however,  a  practical  arrangement; 
the  author  was  neither  capable  of  sifting  the  mass  of  material,  nor 
of  keeping  the  student's  interest  alive  iu  the  least.  In  his  compo- 
dtions,  on  the  other  hand.  Hummel  not  only  broadeneed  the  form  of 
the  Concerto,  the  concert  and  salon  Rondo,  and  the  Sonata,  and 
furnished  the  same  with  new,  difficult,  yet  still  proper  pianoforte 
passages  according  to  his  school,  but  always  endowed  them  with  an 
interesting  meaning,  and  developed  them  in  a  style  refined  thi'oughout, 
sometimes  even  trespassing  on  the  dramatic. 

Ferdinand  Hiller  (b.  1811  in  Frankfort,  d.  1885  in  Cologne), 
Hummel's  most  distinguished  pupil;  although  later,  influenced  by  his 
intimate  intercourse  with  Chopin  and  Liszt  at  Paris,  he  exchanged 
the  chiefly  lyrical  style  of  his  teacher  for  the  romantic.  His  first  in- 
structor in  piano-playing  and  composition  was  Gr.  J.  Vollweiler,  who 
will  be  mentioned  further  on;  at  thirteen  years  of  age  he  entered 
Hummel's  school  at  Weimar.  In  1828,  a  thoroughly  trained  mu- 
sician, he  went  to  Paris,  finding  here  most  remunerative  appreciation 
and  diversified  educational  stimulus  in  the  circles  of  his  fellow-artists. 
In  concerts  of  his  own  given  in  1830  and  1831  he  received  the 
warmest  applause  both  as  a  virtuoso  and  composer;  his  fame  was  most 
firmly  established,  however,  by  his  soirees  arranged  in  company  with 
the  celebrated  violinist  Baillot  in  1835,  only  earlier  classical  pieces 
being  performed  at  the  same.    Hiller  returned  to  Germany  soon  after, 


—     113     — 

and  acted  since  1853  as  Director  of  tlie  Conservatory  of  Music  at 
Cologne.  Among  his  Pianoforte  Compositions  tlie  Caprices  and  Etudes 
are  particularly  noteworthy,  e.  g.  the  following:  Trois  Caprices  on 
etudes  caracUrisUques,  op.  4,  Bonn,  Simrock,  2  livres;  ditto  op.  14 
and  20,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  24  JStudes,  op.  15,  same  publ.;  Capriccio, 
op.  88,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  6  Capriccetti,  op.  35;  34  RJiythmiscJie 
Studien,  op.  56,  Berlin,  Schlesinger;  Caprice  fanfastiqiie,  op.  10. 
Liszt  praises  the  6  cahiers  of  the  Etudes  dedicated  to  Meyerbeer, 
op.  15,  as  follows:  "These  Etudes  are  vigorous  sketches  of  finished 
design,  reminding  of  those  forest  studies  in  which  the  landscapist 
has  succeeded,  with  a  single  tree,  a  single  twig,  a  single  happily  and 
exhaustively  developed  motif,  in  creating  a  charming  poem  of  light 
and  shade."  Besides  the  above,  Hiller  published  a  Pianoforte  Con- 
certo, op.  5;  several  Quartets  and  Trios  for  the  Strings;  a  Sonata, 
op.  47;  La  danse  des  fees,  op.  9,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  La  danse  des 
fantomcs,  Berlin,  Schlesinger;  3  Ghaseles,  op.  54,  same  publ.;  Reveries, 
op.  17,  21,  and  33;  Impromptus,  op.  30  and  40;  Serenade,  op.  11; 
and  other  salon  pieces  and  dances. 

Julius  Benedict  (b.  1804  in  Stuttgart,  d.  1885  in  London)  became 
Hummel's  pupil  in  1819;  but  went  to  Dresden  in  the  following  year 
to  study  composition  under  C.  M.  von  Weber.     From  1839   he  lived 
in  London,  where  he  became  one  of  the  most  popular  music  teachers 
of  that  city.     Among  other  things,  he  published  the  following  piano- 
forte works:    3  Concertos,  op.  13,  29,  and  45;    a  Concertino,  op.  18, 
Leipzig,  Hofmeister;    3  Sonatas,   op.  1,  2,  and  3;    Caprices,   op.  33, 
Paris,  Brandus;  Souvenir  de  NapJes,  op.  11;   Souvenir  d'Ecosse,  op.  34; 
Reveries,  op.  39;    IdijJs,  op.  41;    and  various  Fantasias,  Variations, 
Rondos,  etc. — Hummel's  pupil  Rudolph  Willmers  (b.  1821  in  Copen- 
hagen,  d.  1878   in  Vienna)   also  deserves  mention   as  an  esteemed 
virtuoso  and  a  composer  of  brilliant  salon  pieces.     In  1853  he  settled 
in  Vienna,  and  published,  among  many  others,   the  following  piano- 
forte pieces:    Un  jour  d'ete  en  JSforvcge,  op.  27;  3  l^tudes  de  Concert, 
La  pompa  di  festa,    and  Banza  delle  Baccanti,   op.  28;    Maseppa 
Capriccio  de  concert,  op.  97,  all  issued  by  Bote  &  Bock  of  Berlin 
Serenade  pour   la   main   gauche   seule,    op.  5,    Leipzig,   Hofmeister 
Kldnge  der  Minne,   op.  57,  same  publ.;    Lyrisclie  Tonhilder,   op.  88 
Leipzig,   Breitkopf  &    Hartel;     WintermarcJien,    op.  92,  same  publ. 
TriUerketten    (Chains    of   Trills),    Caprice-J^tude,    op.    69,     Leipzig, 
Kistner. — 

The  "pianist   and  eminent  teacher   of  the  piano"  Ernst   Pauer 

8 


—      114      ^ 

(born  1826  in  Vienna)  was  taught  by  Mozart's  second  son  Wolf- 
gang Amadeus,  and  pursues  the  tendency  of  the  Hummel  school. 
The  historical  concerts  originated  by  him  in  1861  and  given  in  London 
have  materially  furthered  his  renown;  the  same  embraced  a  series 
of  six  performances,  illustrating  the  foundation  and  development  of 
pianoforte  playing  from  about  the  year  1600  down  to  the  present 
time.  He  is  also  well  known  as  a  lecturer  on  the  composers  for  the 
harpsichord  and  pianoforte.— A  further  disciple  of  the  Hummel  school 
is  Johann  Peter  Pixis  (1788 — 1874),  who  labored  at  Mannheim, 
Munich,  Vienna,  and  Paris,  as  a  thorough  teacher,  and  of  whose 
numerous  pianoforte  works  with  or  without  accompaniment  of  other 
instruments  we  notice  the  following;  Grandes  Variations  miJitaires 
pour  2  Pianos  avec  orchestre,  op.  66,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  Trios  for  Piano- 
forte, Violin  and  Violoncello,  op.  75,  86,  and  95.  same  publ.;  Grosse 
Senate,  op.  3,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel;  Exercices  en  forme  de 
raises,  op.  80,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  Les  trois  cJocJiettes,  op.  120,  Leipzig, 
Hofmeister;  Scene  popuJaire  de  Borne,  op.  145,  same  publ. 

In  1829  Hummel  undertook  a  last  professional  tour,  its  chief 
objective  points  being  London  and  Paris.  But  his  once  so  highly 
lauded  performances  now  remained  almost  unnoticed.  For  Beethoven, 
on  whose  coffin  Hummel  had  in  1827  laid  the  laurel  at  Vienna,  had 
created  in  the  pianoforte  works  of  his  last  period— which,  understood 
at  first  by  but  few,  had  gradually  been  comprehended  everywhere  in 
their  full  grandeur — a  neiv,  more  vigorous,  and  moving  style  —  the 
dramatic  pianoforte  style.  Hummel  and  his  epigones  regarded  this 
new  style  of  composition,  with  its  more  powerful  melodic,  rhythmic, 
and  harmonic  resources  of  expression,  better  adapted  for  the  orchestra 
than  the  pianoforte.  But  Beethoven's  utterances,  which  found  the 
truest  expression  for  every  phase  of  emotion,  and  soon  were  appre- 
hended, taken  up,  and  fostered  by  the  widest  circles,  likewise  led 
to  a  complete  reform  of  the  earlier  grammar — to  a  complete  revolution 
in  the  style  of  pianoforte-playing. 


—     115     — 


I¥.  The  dramatic  Pianoforte  Style. 


Ludwig  van  Beethoven. 

This  reformer  of  instrumental  music  was  in  all  probability  born 
on  Dec.  16,  1770.  His  father,  on  the  contrary,  always  gave  1772 
as  the  birth-year  of  the  son  distinguished,  like  Mozart,  by  great  musi- 
cal talent  in  his  earliest  youth.  This  circumstance  explains  many 
contradictions  in  the  dates  given  for  occurrences  in  Beethoven's 
earlier  life  and  compositions.  He  received  his  first  instruction  in 
music  from  his  father,  who  was  a  tenor  singer  in  the  Kapelle  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Cologne;  from  1782  he  studied  under  Christian  Gott- 
lieb Neefe  (1748  —  1798),  then  much  esteemed  as  a  piano  composer 
and  organist.  In  a  short  time  the  latter  not  only  so  developed  the 
gifted  boy,  that  he  could  perform  the  preludes  and  fu2:ues  in  Bach's 
Well  -  tempered  Clavichord  and  similar  works  by  Handel  in  the 
liveliest  tempo,  but  also  had  published  as  early  as  1783  his  pupil's 
first  attempts  at  composition,  "9  Variationen  iiher  einen  Marsoh"  (one 
by  E.  Ch,  Dressier),  and  5  Claviersonaten  (in  E\f,  J^-minor,  and  D), 
together  with  a  few  Songs,  at  Spire  &  Mannheim.  Both  the  per- 
formances of  the  young-  virtuoso  and  his  first  compositions  soon 
created  a  sensation.  He  once  played  some  variations  of  his  own  on 
Righini's  theme  "Vieni,  amore"  to  the  Vicar  Sterkel,  then  in  high 
standing  as  a  musician,  and  as  the  latter  expressed  doubts  as  to  his 
authorship  of  the  same,  he  improvised  to  the  connoisseur's  astonish- 
ment an  entire  series  of  new  variations  on  the  same  melody  (comp. 
"24  Variations  on  'Vieni,  amore'  in  D,  dedicated  to  the  Countess  of 
Hatzfeld",  Bonn,  Simrock).  In  the  winter  of  1786  Beethoven  went 
to  Vienna,  to  hear  the  playing  of  Mozart,  whom  he  revered,  and  to 
show  him  a  sample  of  his  talent.  At  first  Mozart  bestowed  rather 
cool  praise  on  his  playing;  but  when  Beethoven  requested  a  theme 
for  free  development,  and  began  with  its  working-out,  Mozart  grew 
more  and  more  interested,  and  in  high  excitement  he  exclaimed  in  a 
low  voice  to  friends  in  the  next  room:  "Take  note  of  him!  he  will 
make  a  stir  the  world  later!"  This  time  Beethoven's  stay  in  Vienna 
was  of  brief  duration;  not  until  1793,  after  his  father's  death,  did 
he  choose  that  city  as  his  permanent  abode.     He  was  so  fortunate 

8* 


—     116     — 

as  to  find  an  eminent  protector  in  Mozart's  pupil,  Prince  Liclinowsky, 
who  not  only  took  him  into  his  house,  but  allowed  him  a  pension 
of  600  florins.  This  assistance  rendered  it  possible  for  him  to  begin 
serious  studies  in  composition  under  Haydn,  to  continue  them  under 
Albrechtsberger,  and  to  profit  by  the  teachings  of  Salieri,  who  was  well- 
versed  in  particular  in  the  dramatic  style.  The  unceasingly  active 
disciple  of  art  expressed  his  gratitude  to  the  Prince  by  dedicating  to 
him  the  Three  Trios  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello  (in  E\>,  G\f, 
and  C-minor;  Vienna,  Artaria)  which  he  now  marked  op.  1.  On  their 
very  first  performance  at  a  soiree  given  by  the  Prince,  at  which 
Haydn  was  also  present,  they  made  an  extraordinary  sensation.  They 
were  not  printed  until  1795,  and  when  they  reached  London  and 
were  played  at  a  gathering  of  musicians,  J.  B.  Cramer,  who  executed 
the  piano-part,  exclaimed  prophetically:  "That  is  the  man,  who  will 
console  us  for  the  loss  of  Mozart!" 

In  1796  Beethoven  dedicated  to  his  teacher  Haydn,  as  op.  2: 
Trois  Sonates  pour  le  Clavecin  ou  Pianoforte  (i^- minor.  A,  and  C; 
Vienna,  Artaria  &  Comp.);  and  to  Kapellmeister  Salieri,  in  1799: 
Tre  Sonate  per  il  Clavicemhalo  o  Fortepiano  con  mi  Violino,  op.  12 
(in  D,  A,  and  ^|;;  same  publ.). 

Beethoven  studied  counterpoint  under  Albrechtsberger  con  amore, 
with  zeal,  as  proved  by  the  Studien  (not  those  published  in  1832  by 
J.  V.  Seyfried,  and  falsified  throughout)  whicli  he  left,  and  shown 
convincingly  by  his  numerous  works.  Familiar  with  all  the  rules  of 
ancient  counterpoint,  he  quickly  recognized  the  enduring  laws ,  as 
well  as  what  was  untenable,  in  the  same.  He  ventured  upon  bolder 
progressions  and  modulations,  and  thus  became  the  efiicient  reformer 
of  the  science  of  modulation  practiced  until  then.  For  it  was  he, 
who  exhibited  in  his  practical  works  that  the  affinity  of  keys  is  not 
to  be  determined  according  to  degrees  (e.  g.  C-major  —  G^-major  — 
D-major,  or  C-major— F-major— 5[?-major)  but  must  be  sought  in  the 
connection  of  tlie  tones  of  their  fundamental  chords;  thus  the  key 
of  O-major,  for  instance,  is  connected  through  the  Third  not  only 
with  yl-niinor  and  J?-minor,  but  also  with  ^4-major  and  i'-major,  and 
likewise,  through  the  mediation  of  the  like-named  key  of  C-minor, 
with  ^[?-major  and  is^-major. 

Beethoven,  now  a  musician  complete  in  himself,  went  in  1796 
to  Berlin,  where  he  played  several  times  before  King  Frederick 
Wilhclm  II. —  a  rare  i»rotector  of  German  music,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  good  violoncello  player.    To  him  Beethoven  dedicated  ''Deux 


—     117     — 

grandes  Sonates  pour  le  Clavecin  ou  Pianoforte  avec  im  VioJonceUe 
oblige",  op.  5  (JP-major  and  6r-ininor,  Vienna,  Artaria  &  Comp.),  which 
lie  played  for  the  King  with  his  first  violoncellist,  Duport.  On  his 
departure,  a  magnificent  golden  hox  filled  with  louisd'ors  was  presented 
to  him.  In  Berlin  he  met  the  Kapellmeister  Friedrich  Heinrich 
Himmel  (1765 — 1814),  a  pianist  and  composer  of  the  highest  stand- 
ing, whose  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello  (Leipzig, 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  and  Peters)  were  much  played  for  a  time.  Beet- 
hoven having  once  improvised  on  the  pianoforte  in  his  presence, 
Himmel  was  also  invited  to  extemporize.  He  immediately  complied, 
and  had  played  for  a  considerable  time,  when  Beethoven  turned  to 
him  with  the  question:  "Are  you  not  going  to  begin  soon?"  The 
offended  Kapellmeister  never  forgave  Beethoven  this  laconic  cha- 
racterization of  his  improvisation;  the  latter  afterwards  said  of  him, 
that  he  possessed  a  very  pretty  talent  and  was  an  agreeable  pianist, 
but  that  Prince  Louis  Ferdinand,  whose  acquaintance  he  also  made 
at  Berlin,  excelled  him  in  every  way.— Beethoven  likewise  gave  this 
latter  eminent  patron  of  art  a  signal  token  of  his  high  consideration, 
by  dedicating  to  him  in  1805  the  delightful  Pianoforte  Concerto  in 
C-minor,  op.  37  (Oifenbach,  Andre,  and  Vienna,  Haslinger). 

At  Vienna  Beethoven  at  first  excited  more  attention  by  his 
spirited  pianoforte -playing  than  by  his  compositions,  although  he 
already  appears,  in  the  Trios  published  as  op.  1,  as  the  head  of 
the  Vienna  School  of  Music  founded  by  Haydn  and  so  grandly  ex- 
tended by  Mozart.  Thus  Seyfried  tells  us,  that  Beethoven,  during 
the  closing  years  of  the  last  century,  found  in  Woelfl  "a  rival  fully 
his  peer",  (?)  and  that  opinion  was  divided  in  Vienna  regarding  the 
excellences  of  the  playing  of  these  two  masters.  They  sometimes 
met  (1798)  at  the  charmingly  situated  villa  of  Freiherr  v.  Wetzlar. 
"There",  Seyfried  relates,  "the  highly  interesting  rivalry  of  the  two 
athletes  not  seldom  supplied  the  numerous  and  very  exclusive  gather- 
ing with  indescribable  enjoyment  of  art;  each  performed  the  latest 
product  of  his  Muse;  now  the  one  or  the  other  ^vould  give  free, 
unchecked  course  to  the  sudden  inspiration  of  his  glowing  imagina- 
tion; now  both  would  sit  down  at  two  pianofortes,  improvise  alter- 
nately on  themes  mutually  proposed,  and  thus  produce  many  a  four- 
hand  Capriccio  which,  could  it  have  been  brought  to  paper  at  the 
instant  of  its  birth,  would  surely  have  bade  defiance  to  time  and 
decay. —  It  would  have  been  difficult,  perhaps  impossible,  to  award 
the  palm  of  victory  to  either  champion  by  preference  for  his  mechanical 


—     118     — 

skill;  Woelfl.  indeed,  had  been  the  more  kindly  treated  by  ^Mother 
Nature,  who  had  furnished  him  with  a  gigantic  hand  capable  of 
stretching  tenths  as  easily  as  other  mortals  take  octaves,  thus  ena- 
bling him  to  execute  with  lightning-like  rapidity  continuous  double 
note  passages  in  the  intervals  named.  —  In  improvisation  Beethoven 
at  that  time  already  discovered  his  bent  toward  gloomy  weirdness; 
once  revelling  in  the  illimitable  world  of  tones,  he  was  quite  lost  to 
earth;  the  soul  had  burst  asunder  all  cramping  fetters,  thrown  off 
the  yoke  of  servitude,  and  soared,  victoriously  jubilant,  into  bright 
ethereal  space;  noAv  the  tones  rushed  onward  like  a  wildly  foaming 
cataract,  the  exorcist  sometimes  forcing  his  instrument  to  yield  a 
power  which  the  strongest  build  was  hardly  capable  of  obeying;  now 
he  sank  back,  exhausted,  breathing  low  plaints,  melting  away  in 
melancholy;  —  and  anon  the  soul  would  rise  up,  triumphing  over 
transient  earthly  woe,  lifted  on  high  in  devotional  harmonies,  and 
finding  tranquilizing  consolation  on  the  innocent  breast  of  Nature".— 
Woelfl's  compositions  could  in  no  respect  bear  comparison  with  those 
of  Beethoven  at  that  period;  the  partisans  of  the  fomier  could  there- 
fore have  been  captivated  only  by  his  surprising  virtuosity,  and  not 
by  the  profundity  of  his  ideas.  The  incapacity  of  the  Viennese 
amateurs  to  form  a  judgment  was  still  more  glaringly  exposed,  when 
they  thought  a  favorite  pianist  who  appeared  somewhat  later  like- 
wise fit  to  enter  the  lists  with  Beethoven.  This  was  Steibelt,  who 
touched  Vienna  on  his  professional  tour  in  1800,  and  met  Beethoven 
at  a  party  given  by  the  Count  v.  Fries.  Besides  Beethoven's  Trio 
for  pianoforte,  violin,  and  violoncello  in  ^j?,  op.  11,  a  Quintet  by 
Steibelt  for  pianoforte,  two  violins,  viola,  and  violoncello  was  per- 
formed. The  latter  being  thereafter  again  urged  to  play,  he  em- 
ployed the  tremolando  breaking  of  the  chords  which  he  in  particular 
had  brought  into  vogue,  winning  loud  applause  thereby.  Beethoven, 
however,  could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  touch  the  pianoforte  again 
that  evening.  A  week  later  Steibelt  surprised  the  same  company, 
after  a  second  of  his  i)ianoforte  Quintets,  with  a  series  of  brilliant 
variations  on  a  theme  (Pria  ch'io  I'impegno)  which  Beethoven  had 
varied  the  week  previous  in  the  Finale  of  his  J5[?-major  Trio,  and 
aroused  unprecedented  enthusiasm.  Beethoven  was  now  besieged  by 
his  friends  to  pick  up  the  gauntlet  thus  thrown  down;  he  immediately 
sat  down  at  the  pianoforte,  reached  for  the  bass  part  of  Steibelt's 
quintet,  set  it  up  before  him,  and  played  the  notes  of  the  opening 
measures  carelessly  with  one  finger.     But  he  then  developed,  from 


—    iiy    — 

the  appareutly  insignificant  motive,  a  Fantasia  so  artistic  and  hoart- 
stirring,  that  Steibelt  left  the  room  before  he  had  finished,  and  never 
again  showed  himself  in  at  a  party  where  Beethoven  was  expected. 
—  We  gain  a  clear'  idea  of  this  improvised  master- piece  from  the 
later  published  Fifteen  Variations  with  a  Fugue*  in  -E]?  (op,  35, 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel),  dedicated  to  Count  Moritz  Lichnowsky.  To  the 
simple  theme  of  the  bass  part  are  added,  first  one,  then  two,  three, 
and  more  parts;  the  soprano  now  added  to  the  bass  is  varied,  and 
the  whole  finally  ends  with  a  brilliantly  fugued  movement,  of  which 
the  original  bass  motive  forms  the  foundation.  The  theme  of  these 
variations,  with  the  added  soi)rano,  was  also  used  by  Beethoven  for 
the  ballet,  first  performed  at  Vienna  in  1801,  "D/e  Gcschopfe  des 
Prometheus",  and  in  the  Finale  of  his  Sinfonia  eroica,  sketched  in 
1804.  Thenceforward,  indeed,  Beethoven's  peculiarity  of  beginning 
the  exposition  of  a  composition  with  the  most  simple  motive,  from 
which  a  momentous  musical  idea  is  only  developed  further  on,  ap- 
pears more  and  more  markedly.  Beethoven  and  Steibelt  each  gave 
a  concert  at  Vienna  in  1800,  but  the  latter  was  only  able  to  win 
the  applause  of  dilettanti,  whereas  the  former  filled  his  authors  with 
the  highest  admiration.  Here  Beethoven  first  played  his  second  Con- 
certo in  B\}  (published  in  1801,  Leipzig,  Peters),  executed  a  free 
improvisation,  and  at  the  same  time  brought  out  his  first  Symphony, 
and  the  Septet  in  E\}^  op.  20. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1800  Ferdinand  Ries  came  to  Vienna; 
and  he  and  Archduke  Rudolf  are  to  be  noted  as  the  only  pupils 
trained  by  Beethoven.  Ries,  born  at  Bonn  in  1784,  was  sent  to  Vienna 
by  his  father,  a  musician  and  Beethoven's  friend,  with  a  letter  of 
recommendation  to  the  latter.  The  talented  youth  remained  four 
years  under  the  guidance  of  his  great  master,  then  visited  the  Euro- 
pean capitals  on  various  professional  tours,  his  masterly  playing  and 
refined  style  of  composition  everywhere  meeting  warm  approbation, 
lie  then  stayed  for  two  years  in  Paris,  and  later  for  ten  years  in 
London,  where  he  was  an  esteemed  and  popular  teacher  and  com- 
poser. He  died  in  the  year  1838  in  Frankfort. — Ries  wrote  9  Piano- 
forte Concertos,  among  which  the  third  in  Cj?-minor  (Bonn,  Simrock) 
is  especially  noteworthy;  also  an  agreeable  Coneertstilc'k,  ''Airs  suedois 


*  The  Note,  "On  a  theme  from  the  Ballet,  Die  GescMpfe  des  Prometheus", 
is  not  found  on  the  title-page  of  the  original  edition  published  in  1803,  but 
U'as  added  later  by  certain  publishers. 


—     120     — 

varies",  op.  52,  with  orcliestral  accompaniment,  same  piibl.;  an  Octet, 
a  Septet,  and  several  other  large  works  in  which  the  pianoforte 
figures;  50  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  solo  and  with  accompaniment  of 
other  instruments,  including  op.  49,  "Le  songc.',  and  op.  160  for 
4  hands,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  also  Polonaises,  Variations,  Eondos,  and 
o+her  salon  pieces.  His  larger  compositions  are  filled  with  earnest 
musicianly  feeling,  but  are  all  modelled  after  Beethoven's  masterful 
creations,  without  displaying  new,  original  thoughts. 

Beethoven,  on  the  contrary,  who  in  the  sonatas  dedicated  to 
Haydn,  op.  2,  still  reminds  us  of  the  latter,  then  his  teacher,  and  in 
some  later  works  of  Mozart,  so  deeply  reverenced  by  him,  already 
reveals  originality  in  the  Sonate  pathetique,  op.  13,  the  ^;-major 
Sonata,  op.  26,  the  two  Sonatas  "quasi  una  fantasia"  in  JEp-major 
and  Cjt-minor,  op.  27,  in  the  three  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin 
dedicated  to  Czar  Alexander,  op.  30;  likewise  in  the  D-minor  Sonata 
in  op.  31,  the  above-mentioned  Variations,  op.  35,  the  third  Concerto 
in  (7- minor,  op.  37,  the  grand  Sonata  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin  de- 
dicated to  R.  Krrutzer,  op.  47,  the  Sonata  dedicated  to  Count 
Waldstein,  op.  53,  and  still  more  in  the  Sonata  appassionata  in 
i^-minor,  op.  57,  in  the  Concertos  in  (j,  op.  58,  and  ^i?,  op.  73, 
and  the  two  Trios  in  D  and  i>,  op.  70.  Through  these  works  and 
those  following,  equally  eminent  both  in  conception  and  form,  dis- 
playing the  fullest  wealth  of  invention  and  conceived  in  fiery  inspi- 
ration, he  ushered  in  another  new  period — that  of  dramatically 
animated  pianoforte  composition.  His  last,  most  pregnant  creations, 
the  Trio  in  B\>,  op.  97,  and  the  five  Sonatas  op.  101,  106,  109,  110, 
and  111,  long  remained  uncomprehended;  and  as  Sebastian  Bach  in 
the  work  "Aria  con  30  Variazioni",  had  formerly  displayed  the  full 
opulence  of  his  contrapuntal  art,  Beethoven  at  the  close  of  his  career 
likewise  once  more  exhibited  his  extraordinary  faculty  for  develop- 
ing, from  the  simplest  motives,  the  most  artistic  foims  of  most  di- 
versified rhythm  and  harmony,  in  his  33  Variations  on  a  waltz  by 
Anton  Djabelli  (1781 — 1858),  a  considerable  music-publisher  and  in- 
considerable composer  in  Vienna.  Beethoven  died  in  Vienna  on 
March  26,  1827;  with  him  fell  the  last  pillar  of  that  renowned  School 
of  music,  wherein  Vienna  had  elevated  and  illumined  the  entire  mu- 
sical world. 

Beethoven,  whom  the  loss  of  his  hearing  had  caused  wholly  to 
withdraw  from  the  outer  world  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  his 
life,  possessed  the  faculty  of  portraying  all  the  feelings  and  passions 


—     121     — 

of  the  human  breast  with  the  aptest  touches.  To  this  end,  however,  the 
resources  of  expression  employed  until  then  were  inadequate,  and  his 
inventive  genius  often  augmented  the  same  to  a  height,  which  some- 
times even  yet  dizzies  weak-iicrved  critics.  The  works  of  his  last 
period,  in  particular,  abound  in  surprisingly  new  and  characteristic 
rhythms  and  harmonic  transitions.  Whenever  a  criticism  fell  into  his 
hands  in  which  harsh  liarmonies  and  grammatical  faults  in  his  com- 
positions were  blamed,  he  laughed  aloud,  and  cried  out:  "Yes,  yes  I 
they  stare  and  lay  their  heads  together,  because  they  have  never 
seen  it  in  any  book  on  thorough-bass!" 

Beethoven's  longer  compositions  in  some  cases  bring  before 
us  a  complete  drama,  and  his  Sonatas  form,  as  it  were,  a  connected 
Trilogy  or  Tetralogy,  in  which  latter  the  satyric  drama,  the  Scherzo, 
likewise  occupies  a  place,  though  usually  not  as  final  link,  but  in 
the  middle.  The  exposition,  the  first  part  of  the  first  nnovement,  is 
clear  and  intelligible,  and  the  various  motives  of  the  same  soon  excite 
our  full  interest.  Here  we  distinctly  recognize  a  first  subject,  fol- 
lowed by  one  or  more  episodes  or  subsidiary  themes,  which  are  con- 
nected with  each  other  by  passages  or  transitions  organically  de- 
veloped, and  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  mood  of  the  whole.  The 
episodes,  or  the  middle  and  closing  sections  of  the  exposition,  formerly 
always  began  in  the  key  of  the  dominant,  or  with  a  minor  key,  in 
the  relative  major  as  w^ell;  but  Beethoven  freely  chose  other  related 
keys  for  modulatory  contrasts.  The  second  division  begins  with  the 
intertwining,  the  struggle,  or  the  development  of  the  various  elements 
of  the  first  division;  here  Beethoven  ventures  upon  the  boldest  mo- 
dulations, often  touches  the  remotest  keys,  delaying  the  reprise  of 
the  first  subject  to  excite  the  greater  suspense.  It  then  appears, 
well  prepared  or  even  quite  unexpectedly,  in  the  principal  key,  in 
which  the  several  episodes  of  the  first  division  are  now  gathered 
together.  In  an  epilogue  or  conclusion,  however,  which  once  more 
restates  the  main  features  of  the  musical  poem  concisely  and  inten- 
sified, another  striking  modulation  often  enters  suddenly,  whereafter 
the  final  unraveling  is  the  more  satisfactorily  brought  about  — Thus 
in  his  Sonata  op.  53,  whose  principal  key  is  C-major,  Beethoven 
does  not  select  the  dominant  for  a  modulatory  contrast,  but  the  key 
of  E,  related  through  the  third;  and  while  developing  the  various 
motives  in  the  second  division,  he  touches  among  others  the  keys  of 
(r-minor,  (7-minor,  i^-minor,  Ci^-major,  and  J.>-major;  and,  fuither  on, 
i^-major,  ^l?-major,  -E'i?-minor,  J5-minor,  (7-minor,  and  (r-major     After 


—     122     — 

the  first  subject  in  C,  in  the  second  division,  tlie  second  subject  be- 
gins in  ^-major,  then  passing  over  into  0-major,  and  in  the  con- 
clusion the  first  subject  suddenly  recommences— this  time  in  2) i?  major. 
In  the  course  of  the  further  modulations  a  new  counter-theme  starts 
up;  the  second  subject  again  appears,  but  in  C-major,  and  the  fol- 
lowing suggestion  of  the  first  subject  is  succeeded  by  a  short,  animated 
passage,  then  winding  up  the  composition.  Like  each  and  every  one 
of  Beethoven's  works,  this  Sonata  breathes  an  exhilarating  natural 
fresliness,  and  its  contrasts,  melodically  and  rhythmically  differing 
from  each  other,  yet  in  harmonious  agreement  with  the  whole,  keep 
our  interest  constantly  on  the  alert.  By  unusual  resolutions  of  dis- 
sonances and  deceptive  progressions  Beethoven  at  times  excites  ex- 
pectation to  the  utmost,  and  the  rhythms  wherewith  he  conceals  the 
measure  also  hold  us  in  breathless  suspense;  but  broad  plains,  mental 
resting-places,  are  likewise  not  wanting  in  his  ofttimes  rugged  paint- 
ings; and  never  does  the  genial  master  weary  or  exhaust  us,  or  make 
us  provoked  with  his  work,  by  too  long-continued  deceptions,  by  a 
constant  hiding  and  holding  back  of  v\'hat  is  expected. — Beethoven 
also  devoted  special  care  to  the  development  of  his  melodies;  they 
invariably  contain  a  thought  of  distinct  and  finished  character,  given 
out  in  a  form  readily  grasped,  often  popular,  whereby  they  not  only 
engage  the  interest  of  a  wider  circle  of  hearers,  but  enable  the  latter 
to  follow  the  artistic  evolution  of  the  same. — With  Beethoven  the 
Adagio  or  Andante  takes  either  the  broader  form  of  the  sonata, 
having  an  episode  repeated  in  the  second  division,  or  the  song-form 
with  one  or  more  counter-themes  appearing  but  once;  or  it  forms 
merely  an  introduction  to  the  following  movement. — The  gay  or  hu- 
morous movement,  in  livelier  tempo  or  more  striking  colors,  which 
had  at  an  earlier  time  found  room  in  the  Sonata  as  the  Minuet  or 
Scherzo,  was  first  fashioned  by  Beethoven  to  a  form  corresponding 
to  the  style  of  the  whole  piece;  compare  in  this  connection  the 
various  forms  specially  invented  by  him  to  this  end,  e.  g.  the  march- 
like movement  in  the  J.-major  Sonata,  op.  101,  the  Scherzo  in  the 
J5?-major  Sonata  op.  106,  and  the  Allegro  molto  in  tlie  JL[7-major 
Sonata  op.  110.— The  Finale,  in  which  the  idea  first  finding  expression 
is  treated  as  the  chief  theme,  is  written  either  in  Kondo-form— in 
which  this  chief  theme  appears  three  or  four  times,  or  even  oftener, 
together  with  various  episodes,  interludes,  and  developments, — or  fol- 
lows the  Sonata-form  of  the  first  movement;  the  chief  theme  is  some- 
times treated  as  a  very  free  fugue,  or  worked  out  in  the  shape  of 


—     123     — 

variations,  whose  mood,  however,  does  not  vary,  hut  is  only  diversely 
illumined,  darkened,  or  elevated,  as  in  op.  109  and  op.  111. 

Beethoven  gave  no  lessons  in  composition.  When  Eies  came  to 
Vienna,  a  lad  of  sixteen,  he  therefore  commended  him  to  the  aged 
Albrechtsberger,  hut  taught  him  pianoforte-playing  himself.  Eies  re- 
lates that  Beethoven,  contrary  to  his  wont,  was  remarkably  patient 
as  a  teacher.  Occasionally  he  would  have  a  passage  repeated  ten 
times  or  more,  e.  g.  the  Adagio  molto  forming  the  close  of  the  Va- 
riations dedicated  to  Princess  Odescalchi,  op.  34*,  because  the  ex- 
pression of  the  same,  and  the  rendering  of  the  short  closing  cadence, 
did  not  please  him.  '-When  I",  Rics  relates,  '"missed  anything  in  a 
passage,  or  struck  wrongly  certain  notes  and  leaps  which  he  desired 
brougJit  out  prominently,  he  seldom  said  anything;  but  if  I  neglected 
any  matter  of  expression,  the  creseendos,  etc.,  or  in  the  character  of 
the  piece,  he  was  exasperated,  because,  as  he  said,  the  former  was 
accidental,  while  the  latter  showed  want  of  knowledge,  feeling,  or 
attention."  Schindler,  too,  states  that  Beethoven  laid  most  sti'ess  on 
the  musical  declamation  in  the  interpretation  of  his  pianoforte  worlcs. 
"For  just  as  the  poet",  he  observed,  "carries  on  his  monologue  or 
dialogue  in  steadily  progressing  rhythm,  while  the  declairaer,  to  insure 
intelligibility  of  the  sense,  must  supply  cesuras  and  pauses  even  in 
places  where  the  poet  cannot  indicate  them  by  punctuation,  this  style 
of  declamation  is  applicable  to  music,  and  is  modified  only  by  the 
number  of  executants." 

With  Beethoven,  therefore,  begins  the  endeavor,  so  peculiarly 
marked  at  the  present  time,  first  of  all  to  fathom  the  character  of 
the  composition  to  be  performed  and  to  execute  it  accordingly 
furthermore,  to  render  distinctly  prominent  the  main  features  in  the 
same,  and  to  reproduce  the  entire  work,  free  from  the  constraint  of 
the  metronome,  with  dramatic  vividness,  according  to  its  true  nature 
and  meaning. 

The  complete  list  of  Beethoven's  pianoforte  works  contains  5  Con- 
certos for  Pianoforte  and  Orchestra  and  a  sixth  for  Pianoforte,  Violin, 
and  Violoncello,  op.  56;  1  Fantasia  with  Chorus  and  Orchestra, 
op.  80;  1  Quintet  for  Pianoforte,  Oboe,  Clarinet,  Horn  and  Bassoon, 
op.  16  in  E?]    3  Quartets   for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  Viola,  and  Violon- 


*)  T.'ieir  theme  is  in  the  key  of  F;  Var.  1,  in  D;  Var.  2,  in  B^;  Yar.  jJ,^ 
G;  Yar.  4,  JEU;  Var.  5,  C-minor;  Var.  6  and  the  closing  Adagio,  i^- major. 
Comp.  abf've  Beethoven's  key-relationship  by  the  third. 


—     124     — 

cello;  8  Trios  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello;  I  Trio  with 
Clarinet  and  Violoncello,  op.  11  in  J5[?;  14  Variations,  op.  44,  and 
also  the  Adagio,  Hondo,  and  Variations,  op.  121,  with  Violin  and 
Violoncello;  10  Sonatas  with  Violin;  1  Rondo  in  G  and  13  Variations 
in  F,  with  Violin;  5  Sonatas  with  Violoncello;  3  books  of  Variations 
with  Violoncello;  1  Sonata  in  F  with  Horn;  7  books  of  Variations 
with  Flute  or  Violin;  1  Sonata,  3  Marclies,  and  2  books  of  Variations 
for  4  hands;  88  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  solo;  21  sets  of  Variations 
for  Pianoforte  solo;  and  20  books  of  Bagatelles,  Bondos,  Preludes, 
and  Dances  for  Pianoforte.  A  handsomely  got-up,  uniform  edition 
of  Beethoven's  Conq^lete  WorJcs  has  been  published  by  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel,  Leipzig;  his  Pianoforte  Concertos,  in  score,  by  Peters,  Leipzig; 
a  cheap  and  correct  edition  of  his  Pianoforte  Sonatas,  revised  by 
Franz  Liszt,  has  been  issued  by  Holle,  Wolfenbiittel;  and  another, 
revised  by  Moscheles,  by  E.  Hallberger,  Stuttgart. 

Among  late  editions  of  Beethoven's  works,  the  following  may  be 
mentioned:  —  J.  G-.  Cotta,  Sonatas  and  other  Works,  5  Vols.  (Faisst 
&  Lebert),  the  last  two  volumes  being  edited  by  Hans  von  Billow, 
who  has  furnished  them  with  excellent  introductions,  analyses,  and 
notes;  —  Collection  Litolff,  Complete  Concertos,  Sonatas,  Varia- 
tions, Quartets,  Trios,  Duos,  etc. ;  — Edition  Peters,  contains  cheap 
editions  similar  to  those  of  Litolff. 

Franz  Schubert. 

Separated  from  Beethoven  by  only  one  grave,  lies  the  true 
German,  warm-hearted  song-writer  Franz  Schubert.  He  was  born 
at  Vienna  in  1797,  and  survived  Beethoven  but  one  year.  His 
compoi^itions  display  uncommon  productive  vigor,  and  extraordinary 
ease  in  developing  the  motives;  and  the  same  sympathetic  reception 
immediately  accorded  in  Germany,  and  beyond  her  borders,  to  his 
melodies  sung  to  German  poems,  was  also  given  to  his  Pianoforte 
Compositions,  which  breathe  the  same  true-hearted  tone.  We  mention 
here  the  4  Inipronqjtits,  op.  90,  the  Moments  musicals,  op.  94,  and 
the  4  Impromptus,  op.  142.  Of  more  earnest  and  weight}-  meaning 
is  the  Fantasia,  op.  78,  with  the  soul-stirring  opening  movement  and 
the  agitated  Minuet.  Of  yet  more  pregnant  significance  is  the  grand 
Fantasia,  op.  15,  with  the  melancholy  Wanderer  melody  of  the 
Adagio,  and  the  fugued,  fiery  Finale.  It  is  wrong,  that  Schubert's 
Sonatas    should    l)e    almost   forgotten;    for   most   of   them    have   an 


—     125     — 

attractive,  often  dramatically  iuteresting  mcaiiini^ — for  instance,  the 
first  in  J.-niiuor,  op.  42  —  and  will  always,  like  all  his  compositions, 
aiford  to  musicians  refined  entertainment.  Robert  Schumann  recom- 
mends the  same  with  the  following  words:  "Schubert  will  always  be 
the  favorite  of  youth;  he  displays  what  joiith.  desires— an  overflowing 
heart,  bold  thoughts,  swift  deeds;  tells  it  what  it  most  loves  to  hear 
—  romantic  tales,  knights,  maidens,  and  adventures;  mingled  with 
wit  and  humor,  too,  but  not  enough  to  interfere  with  the  tenderer 
general  mood". 

We  have  the  following  Pianoforte  Compositions  by  him: — Grand 
Quintet  for  Pianoforte  and  Strings,  op.  114;  2  grand  Trios  in  B'q 
and  E\^,  op.  99  and  100,  and  also  1  Nocttirne,  op.  148,  for  Piano- 
forte, Violin,  and  Violoncello;  1  Bondo  brilliant  in  jB-minor,  op.  70; 
and  3  Sonatinas,  op.  137,  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin.  Furthermore, 
for  4  hands: — Grand  Sonata,  op.  30;  grand  Duo,  op.  140;  Fantasia, 
op.  103;  Lehensstilrme ,  op.  144;  Fugue,  op.  152;  Marches,  op.  27, 
40,  51,  55,  66,  121;  Divertissements,  op.  54,  63,  84;  Polonaises, 
op.  61,  75;  Rondos,  op.  107,  138;  Variations,  op.  10,  35,  82;  and 
various  Dances,  op.  33.  For  pianoforte  solo:  —2  Fantasias,  op.  15 
and  78;  3  Impromptus,  op.  90  and  142;  Moments  musicals,  op.  94; 
Adagio  and  Bondo,  op.  145;  "5  Posthumous  Pianoforte  Pieces"; 
7  Sonatas,  op.  42,  53,  120,  122,  143,  147,  164;  and  finally  3  grand 
Sonatas,  "Allerletzte  Compositionen",  in  C-minor,  yl-major,  and  B\}- 
major. — Among  these  we  call  special  attention  to  the  two  Trios  for 
Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello;  the  grand  Fantasia  in  C,  op.  15, 
which  in  Franz  Liszt's  arrangement  has  become  a  highly  effective 
concert  piece  for  Pianoforte  and  Orchestra;  the  second  Fantasia  in  G, 
op.  78,  consisting  of  an  Andante,  Minuet,  and  Allegro;  the  Duo  for 
4  hands,  op.  140;  the  3  Marches  hero'iques,  op.  27,  for  4  hands; 
and  the  5  grand  Sonatas  left  by  him. — A  Collection  of  his  Pianoforte 
Works  has  been  published  by  Holle,  Wolfenbiittel.  —  The  greater 
number  of  his  Songs  were  first  made  popular  in  Germany  by  Liszt, 
through  his  noble  pianoforte  transcriptions,  which  set  the  deep  inten- 
sity of  these  tone-poems  in  the  strongest  light;  and  in  similar  arrange- 
ments, by  the  same  master,  of  Schubert's  cheery  Dances  in  the 
"Soirees  de  Vienne"  (Vieima»  Spina,  9  books),  the  brightness,  the 
gaiety,  and  the  youthful  joyousness  of  a  Viennese  Volhshall  is  smi- 
lingly portrayed. 

Late  editions  of  Schubert's  Pianoforte  Works  are  ^^ Selected  Sonatas 
and  Solo  Pieces",  arranged  by  Franz  Liszt,   2  Vols.  (J.  G.  Cotta); — 


—     126     — 

''Complete  "Pianoforte  Worls"  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel);  —  "Pianoforte 
Compositions''^  complete  or  separately  (Edition  Peters  and  Collection 
Litolff). 


¥.  The  brilliaiit  Style. 


a.    Germany  and  Italy. 

All  epoch-making,  creatire  masters  not  only  bring  the  prevailing 
tendency  of  their  art  to  a  close,  hut  also  lay  the  foundation  for  the 
period  immediately  following  them.  Thus  the  shorter  Suites,  some 
of  the  "30  Variations",  and  other  works  of  Sebastian  Bach,  although 
still  maintaining  with  contrapuntal  strictness  the  independence  of  all 
parts  engaged,  already  contain  the  fundamental  ti-aits  of  a  lighter 
pianoforte  style;  and  Emanuel  Bach  often  plainly  shows  the  endeavor, 
to  endow  his  subjective  mood  with  distinct  expression.  In  like  manner 
we  already  find,  in  the  lyric  writers  Mozart,  Clcmenti,  Hummel,  etc. 
following,  transitions  to  the  dramatic  instrumental  style  brought  to 
perfection  by  Beethoven;  and  Beethoven's  last  works  already  contain 
the  groundwork  for  the  romantico-fautastic  style  especially  cultivated 
after  him. 

At  the  beginning  of  a  new  period,  two  parties  always  form. 
The  adherents  of  the  one  bend  all  their  energies  to  keeping  art 
within  the  limits  of  the  foregoing  period.  Familiar  only  with  the 
rules  and  forms  of  the  earlier  tendency,  their  slow  comprehension 
sees  only  arbitrariness  and  formlessness  in  the  creations  of  inventive 
minds.  On  the  other  hand,  the  party  of  progress  battles  with  fresher 
youthful  vigor  for  the  legitimacy  and  general  acceptance  of  the 
licences  adopted  by  their  models;  and  to  their  enduring  energy  alone 
do  we  owe  the  gradual  expansion  and  enrichment  of  our  science  of 
harmony  and  form.  When  Beethoven  sometimes  ventures  on  his 
holdest  modulations,  until  then  untried,  this  is  not  to  be  viewed  as 
arbiti'ariness,  but  as  a  deeper  understanding  of  the  natural  affinities 
of  a  key.  And  only  most  arrogant  ignorance  can  term  his  last  grand 
compositions,  in  their  visibly  organic  arrangement,  '-formless".  Only 
the  still  undeveloped,  uninspired  raw  material,  or  the  irrational  and 


—     127     — 

uaconnectcd ,  unintelligible  work  of  a  brainless  bungler,  can  appear 
"formless"  to  us.  But  Beethoven  mastered  and  formed  his  material 
as  did  none  of  his  predecessors.  For  the  ideal  intent  of  his  thoughts 
he  always  found  the  outer  form  best  suited  to  the  same,  and  when 
instead  of  one  episode  in  his  instrumental  dramas  he  sometimes 
employs  several,  these  latter  preserve  throughout  the  necessary  mutual 
inner  connection;  they  often  call  forth  the  sharpest  and  most  sur- 
prising contrasts,  yet  never  efface  the  harmonious,  characteristic 
grounding  of  his  moving  tone-pictures. 

It  likewise  happens,  that  the  contemporaries  of  a  g'reat  master 
ruling  his  time  do  not  dare  follow  on  the  path  which  he  has  con- 
structed to  such  dizzy  heights;  and  it  is  left  to  later  disciples  of  art, 
who  have  grown  up  with  his  works  and  gained  full  familiarity  with 
them,  to  succeed  him  as  epigones.  His  contemporaries  then  attempt 
the  cultivation  of  some  branch  of  art  left  unnoticed  by  him,  to  win 
favor  for  their  works  in  another  way.  Thus  Sebastian  Bach's  imme- 
diate successors  forsook  the  strict  contrapuntal  style  which  he  had 
brought  to  perfection,  to  bring  into  vogue  a  lighter  and  freer  style 
of  writing;  and  in  Vienna,  too,  where  Beethoven  carried  the  school 
of  ideal  pianoforte -playing  to  final  perfection,  we  note  a  transition 
of  the  latter  into  one  striving  to  develop  externals  and  technique 
only.  The  period  of  the  brilliant  pianoforte  style  so  brought  about 
already  begins,  therefore,  in  that  preceding  it, — a  relation  which  is 
everywhere  observable. 

As  the  most  active  head  of  the  later  Viennese  Pianoforte  School, 
in  whose  illustrious  Aleves  virtuosity  was  raised  to  its  extreme  height, 
Carl  Czerny  stands  forth.  He  was  born  at  Vienna  in  1791,  early 
devoted  himself  to  music,  and  even  began  giving  piano-lessons  in  his 
fourteenth  year.  He  later  became  such  a  popular  teacher  that  he 
often  had  to  give  more  than  twelve  lessons  daily;  and  to  his  ability 
testify  the  following  pupils,  to  be  spoken  of  further  on:  —  Franz 
Liszt,  Fraulein  von  Belleville  (afterwards  Madame  Oury),  Theodor 
Dohler,  Theodor  Kullak,  etc.  In  teaching,  his  great  facility  in  composing 
was  an  extraordinary  aid  to  him;  he  invented  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment  the  most  suitable  and  helpful  exercises  for  his  various  pupils, 
and  was  able  to  keep  alive  their  interest  in  playing  by  pieces  spe- 
cially calculated  for  their  powers,  and  of  elegant  and  brilliant  effect. 
From  1810  he  began  to  publish  such  compositions,  and  they  soon 
attained  to  so  general  popularity  that  Czerny,  besides  giving  his 
numerous  lessons,  found  time  up  to  his  death  in  1857  to  bring  out 


—     12^     — 

some  900  larger  and  smaller  pianoforte  works  for  two,  four,  and 
eight  hands,  with  or  without  accompaniment  by  other  instruments. 
Among  them  we  find  a  set  of  shorter  pieces  for  piano,  for  6  hands, 
entitled:  "Les  trois  socitrs",  op.  609;  furthermore,  for  4  hands,  be- 
sides many  Bondos,  Fantasias,  Variations,  and  llarches,  the  follow- 
ing larger  compositions:  Presto  caratteristico,  op.  24;  Grande  Sonate 
hrillante,  op.  10;  Sonate  milifaire,  op.  119;  Sonate  sentimentaJe, 
op.  120;  Sonate  pastorale,  op.  121.  Prominent  among  his  works  for 
2  hands  as  eminently  practical,  are  the  Text-books;  e.  g.  the  100  Fro- 
(jressive  Stndies,  op.  139;  the  School  of  Velocity,  op.  299,  in  40  Exer- 
cises; the  School  of  the  Embellishments,  op.  355,  in  70  Studies;  the 
School  of  the  Left  Hand,  op.  399,  in  10  Exercises;  the  School  of  the 
Virtuoso,  op.  365;  the  "Kunst  der  FingerfertigJceif"  (Art  of  Finger- 
rxpertness),  op.  740,  in  50  brilliant  Studies;  Miide  in  Thirds, 
op.  735,  No.  1;  2  jStudes  for  the  Left  Hand  alone,  op.  735,  No.  2; 
and  many  others.  The  "Complete  theoretico  -  practical  Pianoforte 
Jlethod,  progressiA^ely  arranged  from  the  first  Rudiments  up  to  the 
highest  Development",  op.  500,  in  3  Parts,  contains  a  great  number 
of  interesting  and  practically  selected  exercises;  but  it  labors  under 
the  disadvantage  of  the  same  disproportionate  length  and  wearisome 
monotony  as  the  similar  work  by  Hummel,  and  has  therefore  found 
little  favor. 

Czerny's  Pianoforte  works,  and  the  school  founded  by  him,  aimed 
at  effect  through  sound  rather  than  sense,  and  sought  to  win  applause 
and  appreciation  less  for  the  composer  than  for  the  virtuoso.  It  was 
consequently  the  object  of  this  later  Viennese  Pianoforte  School,  like 
the  similar  one  in  Paris  mentioned  further  on,  to  write  in  the  most 
brilliant  pianoforte  style  possible,  without  regard  to  distinctive  cha- 
racterization, to  flatter  the  ear  in  the  chief  divisions  and  episodes, 
to  embellish  the  melodious  passages  with  bright  figures  and  graces, 
and  to  flourish  with  pearling  passages  in  the  transitions  and  con- 
clusions. Thus  outward  shoAV,  painted  luxur}-,  superseded  warm- 
hearted simplicity  and  noble  sincerity  in  composition,  until  the 
Romanticists  following  Beethoven  again  raised  the  inner  meaning  to 
the  place  of  honor,  and  awarded  the  palm  only  to  that  virtuoso 
having  the  power  of  expressing  the  poetical  idea  of  the  composer 
most  clearly  and  intelligently. 

Madame  de  Bellevilie-Oury  (1808— 18S0),  a  finished  and  taste- 
ful piauiste,  appeared  in  Vienna  as  a  pupil  of  Czerny,  and  thereafter 
in  other  European   capitals,   with  great   success. — Theodor  Dohler 


—    I2y    — 

(1814— ISoG),  afier  concluding  his  studies  under  Czevny,  also  under- 
took successful  professional  tours,  and  in  1839  his  playing,  though 
not  always  accurate  and  occasionally  weak,  even  created  a  sensation 
in  Holland.  His  elegant  pianoforte  compositions  were  quite  in  vogue 
for  a  time,  e.  g.  the  following: — Nocturne  in  D;,  op.  24;  Tarantelle 
in  (r-minor,  op.  39;  J^tndes  de  Salon,  op.  42;  Bomnnces  sans  Paroles, 
op.  57;  Promenade  en  gondole,  op.  65;  Veder  Napoli,  e  poi  morirf 
op,  74;  and  many  others. — More  tasteful  in  his  salon  pieces,  and 
more  thorough  in  works  devoted  to  technique,  was  TheodoP  Kullak 
(1818  — 1882).  This  distinguished  pianoforte  virtuoso  began  his 
musical  studies  with  the  deserving  Albrecht  Agthe  in  Posen,  and 
finished  the  same  at  Vienna  with  Czerny  in  1842,  under  the  influence 
of  the  performances  and  compositions  of  two  masters  highly  revered 
by  him,  Liszt  and  Hcnselt.  From  1843  he  lived  in  Berlin  as  a  much- 
sought  teacher,  and  Manager  of  the  "Xeue  Akaderaie  der  Tonkunst". 
In  a  vigorous  Trio  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello  in  iJ-minor 
(Leipzig,  Peters,  1852),  Kullak  proves  himself  a  master  of  broader 
forms,  and  his  brilliant  pianoforte  compositions,  everywhere  favorites 
for  playing,  are  animated  by  a  grateful  and  attractive  youthful  fresh- 
ness. We  note  the  following  among  many: — La  danse  des  Sylpliides, 
op.  5  (Berlin,  Schlesinger);  La  gaseJle,  op.  22,  (Berlin,  Trautwein); 
Perles  d'ccume,  Fantaisie- etude,  op.  37  (Dresden,  Paul);  d  Salon 
pieces,  op.  104  (Leipzig,  Kistncr).  Among  his  instruction  books  are: 
Kinderleben,  short  pieces,  op.  62  and  81  (Berlin,  Trautwein);  Shche- 
remde,  6  petits  morceaux,  op.  78  (Leipzig,  Peters);  the  Scliool  of 
Finger -practice,  op.  61  (Berlin,  Schlesinger);  the  excellent  School  of 
Octave-playing ,  op.  8  (same  publ.);  and,  as  a  Sequel  to  the  same, 
op.  48  (same  publ);    and  op.  59  (Leipzig,  Pctors). 

As  the  leader  of  this  Vienna  school  of  brilliant  pianoforte  play- 
ing figures  Sigismund  Thalberg,  whose  aristocratically  refined,  clean, 
and  sonorous  style  aroused  the  greatest  enthusiasm  in  all  the  capitals 
of  Europe.  He  was  born  at  Geneva  in  1812,  early  began  his  mu- 
sical education  at  Vienna  under  a  Hofmusicus  of  that  city,  and  in 
1828  published  there  his  first  work.  ''Melange  sur  des  thimes 
d'Euryanthe";  also  a  ''Fantaisie  sitr  nn  air  ecossais",  op.  2,  and  an 
"Impromptu  stir  des  motifs  du  siege  de  Corinthe',  op.  3.  In  1834 
he  was  appointed  Imperial  Hofpianist,  and  began  in  1835  his  pro- 
fessional tours  to  Paris,  Brussels,  London,  St.  Petersburg,  and  all  the 
German  capitals.  His  bravura  pieces.  Fantasias  on  melodies  from 
"Moses"  and  "La  Donna  del  lago"  by  Rossini,  on  motives  from  Bel- 

9 


—     130     — 

lini's  "Nonna",  and  on  Eussiaa  folk-songs,  gained  extraordinary  po- 
pularity through  his  own  brilliant  performance;  but  their  themes  are 
always  ti-eated  in  one  and  the  same  fashion,  and  the  ever-recurring 
grand  effect  is,  to  play  the  melody-notes  in  the  middle  octaves  of 
the  keyboard  now  with  the  thumb  of  the  right  hand,  now  with  that 
of  the  left,  the  other  fingers  executing  thereto  arpeggios  covering  the 
entire  range  of  the  keyboard.  But  such  stencil-work  does  not  please 
even  dilettanti  for  long;  and  while  Thalberg  was  still  winning  great 
applause  in  America  in  1857  and  1858,  his  once  so  popular  compo- 
sitions were  in  Europe  already  consigned  tp  oblivion.  Several  of 
his  richly  ornamented,  vigorous,  and  effective  Studies  have,  however, 
justly  remained  in  favor  with  pianists;  among  others  the  following: 
—  Caprice  No.  1,  op.  15;  No.  2,  op.  19;  12  Etudes,  op.  26  (Leipzig, 
Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel);  Grand  Caprice  sur  la  marclie  de  Vapotlicose  de 
J3erlios,  op.  58  (same  publ.);  La  cadence,  op.  36,  No.  1;  J^tude  de 
perfection,  op,  36,  No.  2  (Berlin,  Schlesinger). 

The  style  of  playing  alluded  to,  and  so  often  used  by  Thalberg, 
of  executing  wide-spreading  arpeggios  to  a  melody  of  medium  pitch, 
was  first  brought  out  in  Germany,  as  it  appears,  by  the  pre-eminent 
harper  Parish-Alvars  (b.  1816  in  London,  d.  1839  in  Vienna),  who  per- 
formed them  most  effectively  on  his  instrument.  According  to  Dehn, 
however,  the  inventor  of  the  same  was  the  Italian  Giuseppe  Francesco 
Poliini,  an  adherent  of  the  Clementi  school.  Being  in  Paris  in  1801,  he 
published  there  three  Sonatas  for  the  Pianoforte  (Erard),  and  a  "Fan- 
taisie  sur  un  th^me  de  Viotti"  (Pleycl;  also  published  later  by  Breit- 
kopf &  Hartel).  On  returning  to  his  native  country  he  became  ho- 
norary member  of  the  Conservatory  of  ]\Iusic  at  ]\Iilan.  where  he 
wrote  the  instruction  book  '"Metodo  per  Clavicembalo"  (Milan,  G.  Ri- 
cordi),  which  the  professors  of  the  above  institute,  at  a  general 
meeting  on  Nov.  16,  1811,  extolled  by  saying,  "that  it  is  founded 
on  definite,  clear,  and  unshakable  rules,  and  is  wortliy  to  be  used 
exclusively  as  the  basis  of  pianoforte  instruction  in  the  Milan  Conser- 
vatory, and  in  all  other  educational  institutions  of  Italy". — This  Piano- 
forte Method,  of  peculiar  importance  from  such  a  recommendation, 
is  dedicated  to  the  Viceroy  of  Italy,  "Eugenio  Napoleone".  In  the 
first  section  it  treats  of  the  attitude  of  body  and  hands  in  piano- 
pkiying,  and  of  the  fingering  of  all  the  scales;  gives  exercises  for 
making  the  fingers  independent  of  each  other,  for  skilfully  passing 
the  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  fingers  over  the  thumb,  and  the 
latter  under  all  the  other  fingers;   treats  theoretically  and  practically 


—    131     — 

of  cbanging  the  fingers  in  rapid  repetitions  on  one  and  the  same  key, 
of  passages  in  broken  thirds,  sixths,  and  arpeggio'd  full  chords,  and 
the  various  passages  in  octaves,  thirds,  and  sixths.  All  exercises  are 
first  to  be  played  with  the  right  and  left  hand  alone,  then  with  both 
together,  finally  in  melodic  contrary  motion  of  both  hands  and  in 
different  keys.  The  second  section  treats  of  the  various  appoggiaturas, 
turns,  mordents,  trills,  double  trills,  and  trills  executed  to  melodious 
passages;  he  gives  practical  rules  for  the  fingering  in  the  legato 
style,  and  for  varying  the  touch  for  the  different  marks  of  expression; 
and  finally  teaches  the  effective  employment  of  the  pedals.  The  third 
and  last  section  contains  exercises  in  full  chords,  scales,  etc.,  carried 
out  in  sequences  through  all  the  keys.  As  diversions,  Pollini  recom- 
mends the  Sonatinas  by  Ferrari,  Steibelt,  and  Dussek,  together  with 
dementi's  Waltzes  in  rondo-form.  As  a  second  Part  to  his  Method, 
3  Sonatas  (op.  26,  liv.  1  and  2)  were  published  by  Piiccordi,  Milan. 
Of  his  remaining  pianoforte  compositions  we  mention  the  following: 
— Introduction  et  Rondeau  pastoral  a  4  mains  (same  publ.);  2  grand 
Sonatas  (Vienna,  Artaria);  Fantasia  on  themes  from  Kossini's  "Gazza 
ladra"  (Berlin,  Schlesingcr);  Variations  and  Hondo  (Zurich,  Nageli); 
Capriccio,  op.  28;  Toccata,  op.  31;  Esercizj  per  Clavicemhalo,  op.  42; 
Introduction  et  Toccato,  op.  50  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel);  Sclterso^ 
Variations,  and  Fantasia  in  B  (same  publ.);  and  a  Toccata  noted  on 
three  staves,  op.  56,  (Milan,  Ricordi).  Pollini's  compositions  at  times 
augment  the  difficulties  of  the  Clemeuti  school,  and  contain  inter- 
esting modulations,  figures,  and  pianoforte  effects;  but  their  influence, 
aside  from  the  effect  borrowed  by  Thalberg,  has  not  reached  beyond 
the  borders  of  Italy,  as  they  in  great  measure  lacked  the  novel  and 
generally  attractive  subjects  necessary  for  a  wider  dissemination,  and 
that  alluring  external  elegance  Avith  which  Thalberg  later  graced  his 
compositions.  — Adolf  Fumagalli  (born  1828  at  Inzago,  d.  1856  in 
Florence),  who  was  trained  by  Angeleri  in  the  Milan  Conservatory 
according  to  Pollini's  principles,  undertook  brilliant  professional  tours 
through  Italy,  France,  and  Belgium,  as  a  pianoforte  virtuoso,  and  excited 
great  admiration,  in  particular,  by  his  masterfully  developed  left 
hand.  Besides  many  brilliant  salon  pieces,  e.  g.  the  LiiiseJJa  Ta- 
rantella, the  Nenna  Tarantella,  op.  29,  1  Serenade  napolicainc,  op.  50, 
1  Nocturne,  and  1  Sogno  d'amore  (all  publ.  by  Schlesinger,  Berlin), 
he  published  a  fantastic  Pianoforte  Concerto  "Les  clochettes",  op.  21 
(Milan,  Ricordi). 

9* 


—     132     -- 


Tomaschek,  Dionys  Weber,  and  Proksch  in  Prague. 

In  Prague,  where  Mozart  first  fouud  just  appreciation  of  his 
higli  importance  as  a  composer  and  pianoforte  virtuoso,  pianoforte- 
playing  was  taken  up  with  remarkable  zeal  and  zest  after  the 
stimulus  afiforded  by  his  presence.  Simultaneously  with  Czerny  in 
Vienna,  gi-eat  services  were  rendered  in  thorouglily  teaching  and 
further  spreading  this  art  by  Tomaschek  and  Dionys  Weber,  seconded 
later  by  Joseph  Proksch.  From  the  beginning  of  the  yep*  1801  till 
1803  Abbe  Vogler,  a  man  of  high  merit,  was  also  engaged  at  the 
University  of  Prague  to  deliver  public  lectures  on  the  theory  of 
music.  The  beneficial  influence  of  such  an  advanced  musician  on 
musical  matters  in  that  city  was  soon  felt,  although  he  complains 
bitterly,  in  the  Preface  to  a  JManual  of  Harmony  published  there  in 
1802,  of  the  spiteful  attacks  to  which  his  writings  and  even  his 
person  were  subjected  at  that  period. 

Johann  Wenzel  Tomaschek,  born  in  1774  at  Skutsch  in  Bohemia, 
had  by  untiring  industry  educated  himself  according  to  Turk's  then 
much-esteemed  Clavier  Method  to  be  an  able  player.  Though  he 
completed  a  law  course  at  Prague  in  1799,  he  devoted  himself  wholly 
to  music  when  his  pupil,  Count  Georg  Bouquoy,  hospitably  invited 
him  to  his  house  and  at  the  same  time  allowed  him  a  regular  salary. 
Thenceforward  down  to  his  death  in  1850  he  was  unweariedly  oc- 
cupied as  a  teacher  of  composition  and  pianoforte-playing;  and  to  the 
thoroughness  vrith  which  he  fulfilled  his  duties,  a  succession  of 
distinguished  pupils  testifies.  Tomaschek's  compositions  found  such 
favor  upon  their  appearance,  that  he  was  lauded  in  his  native  country 
as  "the  Schiller  of  mu^ic".*  Concerning  his  12  Eclogues  and  12  Rhap- 
sodies, published  in  1812  by  Klihnel  (later  by  Peters,  Leipzig),  E. 
L.  Gerber  remarked  in  1814:  "The  former  sweet,  naive,  with  tbe 
spellful  charm  of  Gessner's  Muse;  the  latter  the  most  daring  flight 
of  a  fiery  fancy,  bold  in  leading  and  captivating  in  vividness".  Of 
the  Eclogues  4  books  of  6  each  were  published  by  Peters  in  Leipzig 
as  op.  35,  39,  47,  and  51,  and  their  continuation  by  Hofmeister  in 
Leipzig  as  op.  63,  66,  and  83,  the  last  "en  forme  de  danses  pasto- 
rales".    The  first  book  of  6  Rhapsodies  was  published   by  Haas  in 


*  See  "Hesperus"  for  the  year  1811,  ace.  to  Gerber  in  the  new  Ton- 
kiinstler-Lexikon . 


—     133     — 

Vienna,  op.  40;  the  second  by  Petevs,  op.  41;  the  third  by  Hof- 
meister.  op.  110;  also  1  grand  Sonata  in  G,  op.  15,  Peters;  Sonata 
in  A,  op.  48,  Hofmeister;  Sonata  in  C,  op.  14,  Ztirich,  Nageli;  Sonata 
in  F,  op.  21,  Vienna,  Steincr;  Sonata  in  Ij\?  and  Bonclo  in  G,  Ztirich. 
Nai^eli;  Gr.  Eondeau,  op.  11,  Bonn,  Simvocic;  and  6  Allegri  ca- 
pHcciosi  di  hravura,  op.  52  and  84,  Hofmeister. 

On  the  foundation  of  a  Conservatory  of  Music  at  Prague  in  1810 
the  then  highly  esteemed  theoretician  Dyonis  Weber  (1771—1842) 
was  appointed  Director  of  the  same;  and  under  his  management  a 
large  number  of  fine  musicians  were  trained  in  this  institute,  which 
later  attained  to  high  standing,  though  pianoforte-playing  and  organ- 
playing  were  not  cultivated  at  the  same.  Of  his  private  pupils,  too, 
several  won  distinction  as  pianists  and  composers,  among  them  Iguaz 
Moscheles.  Carl  Maria  von  Booklet,  Sigismund  Goldschmidt,  and  others. 
The  first  of  these  three  will  find  special  mention  elsewhere.  Car! 
Maria  von  Booklet  (b.  1801  in  Prague,  d.  1881  in  Vienna),  finished 
his  studies  under  Dionys  Weber,  went  to  Vienna  in  1821,  created  a 
great  stir  there  through  his  interesting  free  fantasias  on  the  piano- 
forte, and  became  one  of  the  most  popular  music  teachers.  His 
fellow-pupil  Sigismund  Goldschmidt  (b.  1815)  was  styled  while  so- 
journing in  Paris  ''le  roi  des  sixtes",  and  has  won  a  good  name  not 
only  as  a  virtuoso,  but  also  as  the  composer  of  the  following  works: 
J^tudes  de  concert,  op.  4  and  op.  13,  dedicated  to  Clara  Schumann 
and  Moscheles;  3  Sonatas,  op.  5  and  op.  8;  Bevcrie  au  hord  de  Ja 
mer,  op.  10;  Nocturne,  op.  18;  all  publ.  by  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.  of 
Leipzig. 

A  lasting  influence  on  the  welfare  of  musical  matters  in  Prague 
was  also  exerted  by  Carl  Maria  von  Weber,  who  at  the  beginning 
of  his  artistic  career  was  chiefly  admired  as  a  spirited  pianist,  and 
from  1813  to  1816  acted  as  Kapellmeister  at  the  City  Theatre  in 
Prague.— After  the  death  of  Dionys  Weber  in  1842,  Johann  Friedrich 
Kittel  (1809—1868)  a  pupil  of  Tomaschek,  became  Director  of  the 
Prague  Conservatory,  and  attracted  favorable  notice  by  the  publica- 
tion of  several  pleasing  pianoforte  compositions.  Among  them  we 
notice  the  following:  Grand  Septet  for  Pianoforte,  Flute,  Oboe,  Cla- 
rinet, Horn,  Bassoon,  and  Double  Bass,  op.  25,  (Leipzig,  Kistuer); 
and  various  sets  of  lyrical  Impromptus — op.  17  (Berlin,  Schlesinger), 
op.  26  (Leipzig,  Peters),  op.  18  and  op.  30  (Leipzig,  Hofmeister). 
His  rarely  gifted  fellow-pupil  Alexander  Dreyschock  (1818—1869) 
shone  in  extended  professional  tours  more  particularly  by  his  bril- 


—     134     — 

liant  execution  with  the  left  hand  alone — Variations  pour  la  main 
gauclie  seule,  op.  22,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister — and  with  the  bravura  piece 
•'La  campanella" ,  op.  10;  but  likewise  proved  himself  a  player  of 
true  worth  iii  his  rendering;  of  Mendelssohn's  (?- minor  Concerto  and 
other  serious  compositions.  His  numerous  "drawing-room"  pieces 
include,  among  others,  Bhapsodies,  op.  37,  38,  and  39  (Leipzig, 
Kistner);  op.  40  (Berlin,  Bote  &  Bock);  op.  98  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel); 
and  the  descriptive  pieces  ''Le  naufrage",  op.  68,  and  "Le  festin 
de  noces  venitiens",  op.  69.  —  Among  Tomaschek's  remaining  pupils, 
Ignaz  Tedesco  (1817—1882),  the  "Hannibal  of  Octaves",  and  Julius 
Schulhoff  (born  1825),  became  favorites  more  especially  in  ladies' 
circles  through  their  elegant  execution  and  the  publication  of  various 
graceful  dances  and  other  charming  trifles.  Schulhoff  made  himself 
known,  among  other  things,  by  Two  FolJcas,  op.  4;  Valse  brilliante, 
op.  6;  3  Masurhas,  op.  9;  12  J^tudes,  op.  13;  and  Idyls,  op.  23, 
27,  and  36;  —  Tedesco  by  the  following  pieces:  Bohemian  National 
Songs,  op.  22;  Caprice  de  concert  sur  des  airs  de  CsiJcos,  op.  24; 
Rasilose  Liehe,  oj).  34;  In  einsamen  Stunden,  op.  98;  etc. 

In  the  year  1831  Joseph  Proksch  (1794—1864),  blind  since 
his  seventeenth  year,  but  of  keen  mental  vision,  opened  a  Music 
Institute  in  Prague,  which  speedily  attracted  general  interest,  and 
for  which  he  elaborated  the  following  extremely  practical  works: 
Attempt  at  a  Rational  Method  of  teaching  Pianoforte-playing,  in 
6  Parts;  Variations  on  Mozart's  Spring-song,  for  4  Pianofortes,  each 
taking  4  hands;  The  Art  of  the  Ensemble  in  Pianoforte -playing, 
12  books. — As  a  thoughtful  and  stimulating  teacher  we  still  have  to 
name  Louis  Kohler  (1820—1886),  a  pupil  of  C.  M.  v.  Booklet.  He 
settled  in  Konigsberg  in  1847,  and  has  attracted  favorable  attention 
by  the  publication  of  a  work  which  exhaustively  presents  its  subject: 
—"A  Systematic  Method  for  teaching  Pianoforte-playing  and  Music", 
in  2  Parts  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel);  also  Mechanical  and  Techni- 
cal Pianoforte  Studies,  op.  70  (same  publ.);  Studies  in  TJiirds,  Sixths, 
and  Octaves,  op.  60;  Folk -songs  of  all  Peoples,  (Braunschweig, 
Litolff);  "Festgaben,  den  Kindern  zur  Freude  am  Clavierspiel  dar- 
geboten"  (Festival  Gifts  for  the  Children's  delight  in  playing  the 
Pianoforte),  op.  24;   and  many  other  instruction  books. 


—     135     — 

G.  J.  Vollweiler  and  A.  Schmitt  in  Frankfort 
on  the  Main. 

G.  J.  Vollweiler  (1770—1847)  ia  Heidelberg-,  and  of  Aloys 
Schmitt  (1788  — 1866)  in  Frankfort,  had  like  success  as  able 
pianists  and  thorough  teachers  as  Tomaschek,  D.  Weber,  and 
Proksch  in  Prague.  The  son  and  pupil  of  the  former,  Carl  Voll- 
weihp  (1813 — 1848),  a  highly  gifted  virtuoso  and  composer,  settled 
in  1835,  after  several  tours  through  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Eussia, 
in  St.  Petersburg,  rose  to  be  one  of  the  most  respected  piano-teachers, 
and  published  a  series  of  compositions  distinguished  both  by  their 
pleasing  melodies  and  refined  harmonies,  and  also  by  their  good 
pianoforte  style.  Of  these  we  note  especially  a  Prize  Sonata;  Six 
j£tudes  meJodiques,  op.  4;  J^tudes  lyriques,  op.  9  and  op.  10,  romanti- 
cally inspired,  delightful  counterparts  to  Mendelssohn's  Songs  without 
Words;  a  Tarantelle  in  G^-minor,  wherein  all  the  effects  of  the  tam- 
bourine accompanyinng  this  fiery  dance  are  reproduced  by  interest- 
ing pianoforte  touches;  —  all  publ.  by  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.,  Leipzig; 
3  Pensees  fugitives,  op.  16,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  3  Impromptus, 
op.  18,  same  publ.;  Nocturne,  Barcarolle,  and  Gigue,  op.  12,  22,  23, 
Leipzig,  Kistner;  and  1  Grand  Caprice  sur  des  motifs  dc  Russian  ef 
Ludmilla,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co. —  a  bravura  piece  performed  by  Franz 
Liszt  in  his  concerts  at  St.  Petersburg.  Vollweiler  brought  the  ma- 
nuscript of  this  last,  which  was  difficult  to  decipher  on  account  of 
being  written  in  small  notes  and  with  pale  ink,  to  Liszt  with  the 
request  that  he  would  try  it  at  his  leisure.  But  Liszt  immediately 
placed  it  upon  the  piano,  played  it  at  sight  to  the  composer's  asto- 
nishment in  the  proper  tempo  and  Avith  the  most  fiery  delivery,  from 
time  to  time  letting  fall  pertinent  remarks  on  the  original  melodic 
turns  and  daring  harmonies  of  the  brilliant  Capriccio,  without  inter- 
rupting his  performance.  By  giving  music-lessons,  Vollweiler  had 
amassed  a  considerable  property,  and  in  1847  departed  from  St.  Peters- 
burg to  surprise  his  aged  father  in  Germany  by  an  unexpected  re- 
turn, full  of  joyful  plans  for  the  future.  On  arriving  at  Leipzig,  he 
takes  up  a  Frankfort  newspaper,  and  reads  therein  —  the  notice  of 
his  father's  death.  Leaving  all  his  effects  at  the  hotel,  he  hastens 
on  to  Heidelberg  by  post,  to  his  sister,  in  whose  arms  he  expires. 

Aloys  Schmitt  labored  as  a  teacher,  chiefly  in  Frankfort,  from 
1816,    and  published   a   series    of  compositions  resembling   in   form 


—     136     — 

and  substance  those  of  the  Clementi  school.  Among  them  we  find 
6  Pianoforte  Concertos  (Offenbach,  Andre,  and  Vienna,  Artaria); 
several  Sonatas,  with  and  without  accompaniment  of  other  instru- 
menfs,  for  2  and  4  hands;  and  various  books  of  extremely  practical 
Studies  for  Pianoforte,  e.  g.  J^tudes  en  deitx  parties,  op.  16,  Bonn, 
Simrock;  NouveJles  £tudes,  dediees  a  J.  B.  Cramer,  2  Livi\  op.  55, 
Leipzig,  Kistner;  Bliapsodies  in  2  books,  op.  62,  and  18  Studies, 
op.  67,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  8  i^tudes,  liv.  12,  Leipzig,  Peters;  and 
as  op.  114,  Method  of  Pianoforte-playing,  a  systematically  arranged 
Collection  of  Pieces  for  progressively  developing  the  Fingers  and  the 
Taste.  His  younger  brother  and  pupil,  Jacob  Schmitt  (1803—1853) 
likewise  published  a  complete  practical  School  of  Pianoforte-playing, 
op.  301,  Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  and,  together  with  many 
unimportant  dilettantish  pieces,  several  well-sounding  Studies,  e.  g. 
4  Etudes  hrillianies,  op.  271,  and  4  J^ttides  de  concert,  op.  330, 
same  publisher.  —  Aloys  Schmitt  also  trained  his  son  Georg  Aloys 
Schmitt  (b.  1828)  as  an  able  musician  and  finislied  pianist,  who 
published  among  other  things  3  Pianoforte  Pieces,  Caprice,  Impromptu, 
and  Nocturne,  op.  10. 

The  first  to  endow  the  Studies,  as  well  as  the  Concert  and  Salon 
Pieces  with  subjects  more  spiritually  animated,  was  Ignaz  Moscheles, 
who  combined  the  dramatic  with  the  brilliant  instrumental  style,  and 
through  his  signally  successful  concert  tours  likewise  rendering  endur- 
ing services  in  the  ennoblement  and  propagation  of  his  art. 


Ignaz  Moscheles, 

born  in  Prague  on  May  30,  1794,  studied  from  his  tenth  year  on- 
ward, under  the  guidance  of  Dionys  Weber,  the  works  %i  Seb.  Bach, 
Handel,  Mozart,  and  Clementi,  and  as  early  as  1801  published  a 
Fantasia  for  Pianoforte  on  the  Jewish  funeral  lament  "Potem  mitzwo!" 
In  1808  his  fine  pianoforte  performances  were  received  with  the 
loudest  applause  at  a  concert  given  by  him  in  his  native  city;  en- 
couraged by  this,  he  resolved  to  go  to  Vienna,  tlien  the  capital  of 
the  musical  world,  with  the  special  aim  of  completing  his  studies  in 
composition  under  Albrechtsberger,  the  teacher  of  Beethoven.  In 
Vienna,  too,  his  audacious  and  brilliant  playing  found  universal 
favor.  Here  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  J.  Meyerbeer,  at  that 
period  also  celebrated  as  a  pianist;  after  uninterrupted,  zealous  study, 


—     137     — 

lie  iu  1816  began  his  professional  travels  through  Germany,  and  was 
everywhere  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  not  simply  as  a 
finished  virtuoso,  but  as  an  original  composer  as  well.     In  1820  he 
also  created  a  general  sensation  at  Paris,  and  his  masterly  playing 
met  with  no  less  favor  in  London,  where  he   sojourned  for  a  con- 
siderable   time    as    the    worthiest    representative    of  the    meritorious 
Clementi,  to  whom,  a  septuagenarian  then  living  in  retirement,  though 
still  robust,    Moscheles   paid  his    respects.     From  London  Moschcles 
again  visited  the  German  capitals  in  1823  and  1824,  Brussels  in  1835, 
and  Paris  in  1839,  and  displayed  his  lofty  mastership  foremostly  in 
the  interpretation  of  his  (r-minor  Concerto  op.  58,  a  work  of  chastest 
conception,  and  in  the  sparkling  Brainra  Variations  on  the  Alexander 
March,  op.  32;    likewise  in  the  performance  of  free   fantasias,   the 
choice  of  whose  motives  he  left  to  his  audience.     In  the  year  1846 
he  followed  a  call  to  Leipzig,  where  he  worked  as  one  of  the  most 
revered  professors  in  the  Conservatory  of  Music.    Among  his  numerous 
Pianoforte  compositions,   eight  masterly  and  effective   Concertos  are 
prominent,    •f  which  that  already  mentioned,  in   G-minor,    and  the 
Concerto  fantastiqtie ,  op.  90,   are  peculiarly  esteemed;    furthermore. 
Souvenirs  d'Irlande  with  orchestral  accompaniment,  op.  69;    1  Sextet 
for   Pianoforte,    Violin,    Flute,    2   Horns,    and   Violoncello,    op.    35; 
1  Sonata  for  4  hands  in  ^|?,  op.  47,   1  Sonate  symplioniqiie,   op.  112, 
and  Les  Contrastes,  op.  115,  also  for  4  hands;    Hommage  a  IIa)uhl, 
op.  92,  a  grand  Duo  for  2  pianofortes;  Hiimoristic  Variations,  Scherzo, 
and  Festival  March,  op.  128;    and  Cadenzas  to  Beethoven's  Piano- 
forte Concertos.    To  his  finest  works,  and  supplied  with  a  wealth  of 
novel  figures  and  pianoforte  effects,  also  belong  the  "Studies  for  the 
higher  finish  of  already  advanced  pianists,  consisting  of  24  character- 
istic   compositions   in  the  various  major  and  minor   keys,   provided 
with  fingering,  and  with  explanatory  notes  on  the  aim  and  perfor- 
mance of  the  same",  op.  70,  Leipzig,  Kistner;    also  New  Charac- 
teristic Studies  for  the  Pianoforte,  op.  95,  and  Quatre  grandes 
£tndes  de  concert  pour  Piano,  op.  Ill,  same  publ.    The  last  two  works 
reveal,  through  titles  like  Zorn,  Widerspruch,  Versohnung,  Kinder- 
mar  chen,  VoJTisscenen,  etc.,  the  striving  of  the  composer  to  imbue  his 
creations  with  distinct  meaning;  and  in  this  he  really  met  with  hap- 
pier success  than  any  of  his  predecessors  in  the  same  field.     In  like 
manner  Moscheles  attained,  by  the  frequent  but  well-calculated  use 
of  the  pedal  (which  Hummel  quite  neglected),   and  by  the  greater 
strength  and  diversity  of  his  touch,  effects  unknown  to  the  master 


—     138     — 

just  named  and  so  much  resembling  him.  We  must  therefore  regard 
him  as  one  of  the  niost  influential  amplifiers  of  the  art  of  Pianoforte- 
plaving.    He  died  at  Leipzig,  universally  mourned,  in  the  year  1870. 

To  the  most  distinguished  of  the  many  pupils  trained  by  Moscheles 
belong  the  following:  Leopoldine  Blahetka  (b.  1811);  her  first  teachers 
of  music  were  Frau  von  Cibbini,  nee  Kozeluch,  and  Joseph  Czerny; 
she  early  exhibited  uncommon  talent  for  this  art,  and  from  her  eighth 
year  attracted  much  notice  in  Viennese  musical  circles  by  her  neat 
pianoforte -playing.  Under  Moscheles'  tuition  her  talent  later  devel- 
oped so  rapidly,  that  her  concert  tours  through  Germany,  Holland, 
France,  and  England  were  attended  by  most  flattering  success.  From 
18^0  she  resided  at  Boulogne  as  an  esteemed  teacher.  As  the  pupil 
of  Simon  Sechter  she  also  became  known  through  the  following 
compositions: — Souvenir  d'AngJeferre,  with  orchestral  accompaniment, 
op.  38,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  3  Bondcaux  elegants  (Amour  a  la  Bou- 
teille,  Hommage  a  I'Amour,  and  Rage  de  Danse),  op.  37,  same  publ. 
— Also  Henry  Litolff  (b.  Loudon,  1818);  in  1846  he  settled  in  Bruns- 
wick, moved  to  Paris  in  1860,  and  is  noted  as  a  pianist  of  the 
first  rank.  Of  his  compositions  we  name  6  J^tiides  de  concert,  op.  18; 
Tarantelle  infernale,  op.  79;  Grand  Caprice  de  concert,  op.  37,  Berlin, 
Bote  &Bock; — and  call  special  attention  to  his  5  Sijmphonic  Concertos, 
the  second  of  which.  Concert o-Sinfonie  pour  Piano  et  Orchestre  in 
.B-minor,  op.  22,  has  been  published  in  Berlin  by  Schlesinger. — 
Robert  Radecke  (b.  1830),  also  a  pupil  of  Moscheles,  settled  in  Berlin 
in  1854,  where  he  became  a  popular  pianoforte  teacher,  and  was 
appointed  in  1863  to  the  office  of  Kapellmeister  of  the  Eoyal  Opera, 
which  he  held  until  1887. 

Moscheles  and  Fetis  published  (Berlin,  Schlesinger)  a  "Method 
of  Metliods"  bearing  the  following  title:  "The  most  Complete  School, 
or  the  Art  of  Pianoforte -playing",  resulting  from  a  searching  exa- 
mination of  the  best  works  of  this  kind,  more  particularly  the  Text- 
books of  Bach,  Marpurg,  Ttirk,  Miiller,  Dussek,  Clementi,  Schmitt, 
Adam,  Czerny,  Hummel,  and  Kalkbrenner.  The  second  and  third 
parts  of  the  same  contain  Rudimentary  Exercises,  Progressive  Etudes, 
and  Studies  for  the  higher  development,  by  Cramer,  Czerny,  Moscheles, 
Mendelssohn,  Henselt,  Chopin,  Liszt,  etc.  A  fellow-worker  of  Moscheles 
in  the  Leipzig  Conservatory  of  Music  was  the  acute  theoretician 
and  contrapuntist  Moritz  Hauptmann,  whose  six  fine  Sonatas  for 
the  Pianoforte  and  Violin,  op.  5  and  op.  23,  Leipzig,  Peters,  by 
reason  of  their  thoughtful  conception  and  finished  form,  will  remain 


—    139     — 

of  enduring  value  in  musical  literature. — Among  the  similar  works 
of  the  sterling  composer  George  Onslow  (1784 — 1853),  two  ex- 
tremely valuable  Grand  Duos  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin,  op.  29,  in  JE, 
and  op.  31  in  (?-minor,  are  deserving  of  special  mention. 

Carl  Maria  von  Weber. 

The  development  of  modern  pianoforte  technique,  the  wider  ex- 
tension of  the  chords,  and  the  more  sonorous  passages,  we  owe  after 
Moscheles  in  no  small  degree  to  Carl  Maria  von  Weber,  whose 
soulful  compositions  immediately  won  the  sympathies  of  his  nation 
and  made  him  its  favorite.  He  was  horn  on  Dec.  18,  1786,  at  Eutin 
in  Holstein,  busied  himself  at  an  early  age  with  music,  and  was 
taken  by  his  father  for  education  in  this  art  to  Michael  Haydn,  then 
already  sixty  years  old,  in  Salzburg.  The  fruits  of  his  study  were 
six  FuglieUas,  which  were  published  in  1798.  He  then  proceeded 
with  his  father  to  Munich,  where  he  continued  his  theoretical  work 
under  the  organist  Kalcher,  and  had  printed  6  Variations  in  C,  No.  1, 
for  Pianoforte.  In  1803  he  visited  Vienna,  and  became  acquainted 
there  with  the  Abb6  Vogler,  who  stood  in  high  estimation  alike 
as  a  theoretician  and  as  an  organist  and  pianist,  and  whose  more 
rational  principles  of  harmony  decided  him  to  devote  two  further 
years  to  theoretical  study  under  the  Abb6's  guidance,  while  also 
training  himself  to  virtuosity  on  the  pianoforte.  In  response  to  an 
invitation  from  Duke  Eugene  of  Wiirttemberg  he  visited  this  patron 
of  art  in  Silesia  (1806),  where  he  composed,  besides  other  pieces, 
his  first  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  C,  op.  11,  Offenbach,  Andre.  Two 
years  later  he  gave  at  Leipzig,  and  in  1810  at  Munich  and  Berlin, 
concerts  universally  well  received;  once  more  returned  to  the  Abbe 
Vogler,  and  lived  in  intimate  friendship  with  his  fellow-pnpil  Meyer- 
beer until  called  to  Prague  in  1813  as  Music  Director,  in  which  city 
he  remained  till  1816.  These  were  the  stirring  times  of  Germany's 
uprising  against  the  foreign  conqueror;  and  Weber,  too,  was  inspired 
by  them  to  pen  the  songs  of  freedom  soon  echoing  throughout  the 
land.  We  may  consider  his  Concertstuch  in  F,  so  important  for  the 
further  development  of  the  animated  dramatic  pianoforte  st^'le,  as  an 
echo  of  that  glorious  period;  it  was  issued  as  op.  79  by  Peters, 
Leipzig.  The  orchestra  begins  in  the  same  with  a  Larghetto  in 
i^-minor  full  of  anxious  expectancy,  whose  sustained  melody  is  then 
taken  up  by  the  pianoforte  and  accompanied  by  evanescent  harmo- 


—     140     — 

nies.  In  the  succeeding:  Allegro  passionofo  the  mood  becomes  more 
unquiet  and  agitated;  a  consoling  ray  of  hope— the  middle  movement 
in  ^[7— breaks  through,  but  dark  clouds  soon  gather  densely  and 
rapidly,  and  the  movement  is  brought  to  a  close  in  passionate  agita- 
tion. Now  there  sounds,  as  from  a  distance,  a  march  gently  intoned 
by  the  wind  instruments.  The  pianoforte  strikes  boldly  in,  and  the 
grand  tutti  of  the  orchestra  finally  brings  it  out  as  an  energetically 
marked  march  of  triumph.  Now  the  pianoforte  again  begins,  softly 
and  tentativeh";  its  passages  grow  stronger  and  faster,  until,  after 
constantly  rising  intensification,  it  storms  in  full  ecstacy  into  the  last 
movement.  Presto  assai,  in  i^-major.  The  glowing,  brilliant  passages 
express  most  fervent  rapture  and  jubilation,  and  stamp  this  Concert- 
stucJi  altogether  as  the  most  effective  and  powerful  of  all  composi- 
tions of  its  class  issued  up  to  that  time.  Prominent  among  the  other 
pianoforte  works  of  Weber  are  also  several  books  of  easy  Pieces  a 
4  mains,  op.  3,  10,  and  60;  four  grand  Sonatas,  op.  24,  39,  49,  and 
70;  Memento  capriccioso,  op.  12;  Aufforderung  zum  Tans,  op.  65; 
Polonaise  in  jEj?,  op.  21;  Variations  on  ''Vien  qua,  Dorina  bella", 
op.  12;  and  a  Polacca  hrillante  in  E\^,  op.  72,  Berlin,  Schlesinger, 
also  issued  by  the  latter  in  a  brilliant  arrangement  for  Piano  and 
Orchesti-a  by  Liszt.  Weber,  from  1817  Hof kapellmeister  of  the  Ger- 
man opera  at  Dresden,  wrote  "Der  Frcischutz"  for  Berlin  in  1821, 
"Euryanthe"  for  Vienna  in  1823,  and  "Oberon"  for  London  in  1826, 
in  which  latter  city  he  succumbed  to  a  disease  of  the  lungs,  soon 
after  the  opera  had  been  successfully  brought  out.  But  his  naively 
fresh  melodies  still  live  among  his  countrymen,  and  the  combination 
of  dramatic  animation  with  brilliant  effect  in  the  pianoforte  style, 
so  powerfully  employed  both  by  him  and  Moscheles,  found  countless 
imitators;  —  the  most  gifted  of  whom,  able  at  the  same  time  ingeni- 
ously to  apprehend  and  elaborate  the  rarest  features  in  the  epochs 
preceding  him,  was  Felix  Mendelssohn. 

As  a  pianoforte  virtuoso,  Weber  had  the  Crescendo,  swelling 
from  the  softest  _pmwo  through  all  degrees  of  intensification  up  to 
the  mightiest  forte,  so  completely  at  command,  that  he  always  exerted 
an  electrifying  effect  therewith  upon  his  hearers.  In  his  written 
works  this  effect  is  most  clearly  illustrated  in  the  Concert stiicTc 
already  described,  measure  68 — 84,  where  it  leads  up  powerfully  to 
the  stormy  Allegro  passionato. 

The  following  late  editions  of  his  Pianoforte  Works  must  be 
mentioned:  —  Sonatas  and  Salon  Pieces,  arr.  by  Franz  Liszt,  2  Vols. 


—     141     — 

(J.  G.  Coita);  Fianoforte  Worlcs,  com  pi.,  Reinecke  (Breitkopf  &  Hilrtel); 
Complete  Compositions,  3  Vols.  (Edition  Peters);  the  same,  1  Vol. 
(Collection  Litolff). 

The  following-  works  on  his  life  and  labors  are  well  worthy  of 
notice  — "Carl  Maria  von  Wcher.  Ein  Lebensbild  von  Max  Maria 
von  Weber."  3  Vols.,  Leipzig,  Keil,  1864. — "C.  M.  v.  Weber  in  seinen 
Werken."  A  chronological  thematic  list  of  his  complete  compo- 
sitions, by  F.  W.  Jiihns.     Berlin,  1871,  Schlesinger  (Robt.  Lienau). 

The  pianist  and  composer  Ludwig  Bohner  (1817—1861),  in  his 
last  period  quite  run  wild,  was  an  original  character,  whom  E.  T.  A. 
Hoifmann  portrayed  in  so  interesting  a  manner,  in  his  FantasiestitcJce, 
as  "Johannes  Kreisler".  From  1808  to  1820  he  travelled  about  Grer- 
many  giving  concerts,  playing  his  own  compositions,  but  afterwards 
led  a  nomadic  life  in  his  native  province  of  Thuringia,  in  very  re- 
stricted circumstances.  Among  other  things  he  had  printed  5  Piano- 
forte Concertos,  op.  7,  8,  11,  13,  and  14,  and  1  Sonata,  op.  15; 
1  Capriccio  in  A,  and  a  great  number  of  Dances  (principally  in 
Leipzig,  Hofmeister  or  Breitkopf  &  Hilrtel);  and  his  assertion  that 
C.  M.  V.  Weber  had  taken  the  loveliest  passages  of  his  "Freischiitz" 
from  his  pianoforte  concerto  in  D,  op.  8,  created  a  great  sensation 
for  a  time.  One  sees,  however,  on  closer  examination,  that  this  pre- 
tended theft  concerns  only  two  measures,  which  occur  in  the  above 
opera   in   the    part  sung   by  Agathe,   to  the  words:   ^^Suss  entziicJct 

cntge "  (N.  B.  only  to  the  first  note  of  this  syllable),  and  consist 

of  the  tones  of  a  broken  triad  embellished  with  turns.  But  Weber 
frequently  begins  his  most  popular  melodies  with  the  broken  tones 
of  a  triad,  which  even  occur  without  melodic  embellishment;  e.  g.  in 
the  following:  "Was  gliinzt  dort  vom  Walde  im  Sonnenschein" ;  "Ein- 
sam  bin  ich  nicht  alleine";  the  middle  theme  of  the  Preciosa  overture,  etc.; 
so  til  at  the  term  theft  no  more  applies  to  this  case  than  to  the  mo- 
tive mentioned  before,  first  employed  by  Clementi,  from  the  ovei-ture 
to  the  Magic  Flute. 

Weber's  successor  to  the  post  of  Hofkapellmeister  at  Dresden, 
and  at  the  same  time  his  warm  admirer,  was  Carl  Gottlieb  Reissigep 
(1798—1859).  He  produced  a  series  of  elegant  and  easily  executed 
Pianoforte  Compositions,  which  are  distinguished  rather  by  the  na- 
tural flow  of  their  melodies  than  through  profundity.  Special  favorites 
for  a  time  were  his  Trios  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello, 
of  which  he  published  22,  and  which  belong  to  the  better  class  of 
entertaining  musical  literature.    We  notice  the  following:  the  2  Trios, 


—     142     — 

op.  164  and  op.  175,  "faciles  et  brillants",  Berlin,  Sclilesinger;  also 
the  larger  Trios,  op.  25  in  D -minor,  op.  77  in  jEV,  op.  85  in  E. 
op.  125  in  ^-minor,  and  op.  192  in  D,  the  last  one  in  full  soore, 
all  published  by  Peters  in  Leipzig-. 

Heinrich  Marschner,  too  (1705—1861),  Hofkapellmeister  at  Ha- 
nover, and  renowned  from  his  true  Gemian  operas  conceived  in 
Weber's  spirit,  left  a  few  interesting  Pianoforte  Compositions  of  the 
same  class,  among  which  the  following  are  to  be  specially  recom- 
mended:— 2  Trios  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello,  op.  29  in 
J[-minor,  Leipzig,  Kistner,  and  op.  Ill  in  (r-minor,  Leipzig,  Hof- 
meister;  also  1  Quartet  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  Viola,  and  Violoncello 
in  jB?,  op.  36,  same  publisher. 

Finally  we  should  not  neglect  to  notice  the  following  compositions 
by  Hofkapellmeister  Louis  Spohp  of  Cassel  (1784— 1859):  — ^mw^e^; 
for  Pianoforte,  2  Violins,  Viola,  and  Violoncello  in  B,  op.  130, 
Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  5  Trios  concertants  for  Pianoforte, 
Violin,  and  Violoncello,  op.  119  in  .E- minor,  op.  123  in  F,  op.  124 
in  J.-minor,  op.  133  in  JB\}^  and  op.  142  in  G^-minor,  all  editions  in 
score,  same  publ.;  3  Duos  concertants  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin, 
op.  113  in  £'!?,  op.  114  in  E\>^  and  op.  115  in  J.?,  same  publ. — 
In  these  the  pianoforte  part  appears  as  original  as  is  this  admirable 
writer's  style  of  composition  throughout;  and  in  these  works,  wrought 
with  loving  care,  Spohr  likewise  charms  his  many  admirers  with  noble 
and  well-chosen  melodies  and  harmonies. 


Felix  Mendelssohn. 

Mendelssohn,  inspired  by  the  beauties  of  Beethoven,  Bach,  and 
Mozart,  and  in  his  youth  a  witness  of  Carl  Maria  von  Weber's  epoeli- 
making  triumphs,  sought  to  combine  the  warmth  and  outward  bril- 
liancy of  the  latter  with  the  more  artistic  work  of  the  earlier  masters; 
and  to  this  endeavor  we  owe  a  series  of  pianoforte  works,  whose 
appearance  was  joyfully  greeted  by  all  pianists,  and  in  which,  though 
lacking  the  spirit  of  originality,  the  well-schooled  and  impressionable 
musician  is  always  recognizable. 

Felix  IVIendelssohn-BarthoIdy,  a  grandson  of  the  philosopher 
Moses  Mendelssohn,  was  born  in  Hamburg  on  February  3,  1809,  but 
in  his  fourth  year  removed  with  his  parents  to  Berlin,  where  he 
early  received  instruction  in  piano-playing  from  Ludwig  Berger.  In 
his  tenth  year  the  talented  boy  already  played  the  Concert  miUtaire 


—     143     — 

by  Dussek  with  applause  in  public;  iu  the  theory  of  music  he  quickly 
became  the  favorite  pupil  of  Zelter,  then  Director  of  the  Berlin 
Sing-akademie.  The  latter  presented  him  in  1821  to  his  friend  Goethe 
at  Weimar,  in  which  town  Mendelssohn  had  an  opportunity  of  listening 
to  Hummel's  fine  playing,  and  in  particular  to  his  much-lauded  free 
fantasias.  Felix,  then  twelve,  had  already  finished  his  first  Quartet 
for  Pianoforte,  violin,  viola,  and  violoncello,  played  by  heart  fugues 
by  Seb.  Bach  and  sonatas  by  Beethoven,  and  won  the  hearts  of  all 
by  his  frank  and  merry  temper.  In  1825  his  father  took  him  to 
Paris,  to  hear  Cherubini's  opinion  on  the  intention  of  the  youthful 
Felix,  to  devote  himself  wholly  to  music.  The  Master  tested  him, 
and  expressed  an  extremely  favorable  judgment  on  his  abilities. 
Moscheles,  too,  who  at  that  time  paid  several  visits  to  Berlin  on  the 
tours  undertaken  by  him  from  London,  took  great  delight  in  the 
gifted  young  artist,  becoming  not  only  a  helpful  teacher,  but  a  faith- 
ful and  appreciative  friend  until  his  untimely  death.  Mendelssohn 
visited  him  in  1829  at  London,  where  he  won  great  applause  as  a 
composer  and  pianist.  In  the  following  year  Felix  journeyed  by  way 
of  Weimar,  Munich,  and  Vienna  to  Italy,  and  in  that  country  com- 
posed the  counterpart  of  the  above-described  ConcertsUicJc  by  Weber, 
his  Capriccio  ivitli  orcJwstra  in  B.  During  an  extended  stay  in  Rome 
he  wrote,  in  1831,  the  first  book  of  his  Songs  without  Words,  a 
series  of  melodically  attractive  pieces  of  a  simpler  form,  with  au 
often  finely  elaborated  harmonic  accompaniment,  which  found  sucii 
general  favor  that  he  gradually  composed,  at  the  desire  of  tlie 
publisher  (Simrock  of  Bonn),  seven  books  of  six  numbers  each.  la 
the  year  1832  he  once  more  travelled  to  London  via  Paris,  meeting 
with  a  most  cordial  reception  in  both  places.  In  the  following  year 
he  was  appointed  Music  Director  at  Diisseldorf,  and  in  1835  Con- 
ductor of  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts  at  Leipzig,  in  which  latter  place 
he  now  settled  permanently,  till  called  away  by  death  in  1847.  His 
first  Quartet  for  pianoforte,  violin,  viola,  and  violoncello  in  i'-minor, 
op.  1,  is  dedicated  to  Prince  Anton  of  Radziwill,  appearing  in  1824; 
the  second,  op.  2,  in  JP-minor,  is  dedicated  to  Zelter,  the  third,  op.  3, 
in  ^-minor,  to  Goethe.  Of  his  other  Pianoforte  Works  the  following- 
require  special  mention:  — Concerto  in  (9-minor,  op.  25,  Leipzig,  Breit- 
kopf  &  Hartel,  1833;  Concerto  in  D-minor,  op.  30,  same  publ.,  1836; 
Capriccio  hriUant  with  Orchestra,  op,  22,  same  publ.;  2  Trios  for 
Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello,  op.  49  and  op.  QQ,  same  publ; 
Sonata  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin,  in  A^,  op.  4,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister, 


—     144     — 

1825;  2  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  and  Violoncello,  op.  45  and  op.  58, 
Leipzig,  Kistner;  Songs  without  Words,  op.  19,  30,  38,  53,  62,  67,  87, 
Bonn,    Simrock;    Capriccio  in   i^iJ-minor,    op,  5,    Berlin,    Sclilesiuger ; 

5  Capriccios  in  J.-miuor,  JE'-major,  and  B7-minor,  op.  33,  Breitkopf 

6  Hartel;  6  Etudes  and  six  Fugues,  op.  35,  same  publ.;  Sonata  in  E, 
op.  6,  Leipzig,  Hofineister;  Fantasias,  op.  14  and  15,  Vienna,  Mechetti: 
Fantasia  in  i^j^-minor,  op.  28,  Bonn,  Simroek;  Bondeau  hrillant  in 
E?^  op.  29,  same  publ.;  Serenade  and  Allegro  giocoso,  op.  43,  same 
publ.;  Variations  in  D  for  Piano  and  Violoncello,  op.  17,  Vienna, 
Mechetti;  Variations  serieuses  in  F,  op.  54,  same  publ.;  and  with 
Moscheles'  collaboration,  Duo  and  Variations  on  a  tlieme  from  Pre- 
ciosa,  for  2  Pianofortes  with  Orchestra. 

A  critical  Edition  of  Mendelssohn's  Complete  Works  (folio),  whose 
several  Parts  are  also  purchasable  separately,  has  been  published  by 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  also  the  Pianoforte  Works  in  cheap  editions.— 
Edition  Peters  and  Collection  Litolif  likewise  contain  the  pianoforte 
works  complete  or  separately. 

Information  concerning  his  life  and  labors  is  given  by  August 
Pteissmann,  "Felix  Mendelssohn-Bartholdy".  Berlin,  Guttentag,  1867. 
—  Highly  interestino-  and  instructive  are  Mendelssohn's  own  "Eeise- 
briefe"  of  the  years  1830  to  1832;  also  of  the  years  1833  to  1847 
(Leipzig,  H.  Mendelssohn,  1864).— The  Letters  (Reisebriefe)  have  been 
publ.  in  English  by  Longmans  &  Co.,  London.  Some  other  biogra- 
phical works  are:  — 

Benedict.  "A  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Works  of  the  late  Felix 
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy".  2nd  ed.  London,  1853;  —  Lampadius. 
"F.  M.  B.,  ein  Denkmal",  Engl,  editions  New  York  1866,  Loudon 
1878;  —  Killer.  '-Mendelssohn,  Letters  and  Becollections",  etc., 
Loudon,  1874,  Macmillan  &  Co.;— Devrient.  "Meine  Erinnerungen 
an  F.  M.  B.",  English  ed.  Loudon,  1869;  and  many  others.  — A  study 
(Essay)  on  Mendelssohn's  pianoforte  style,  which  Hans  von  Biilow 
prefixed  to  his  edition  of  Mendelssohn's  Ptondo  capriccioso  op.  14 
as  a  Preface,  is  also  of  the  highest  interest. 

Mendelssohn  shares  with  Moscheles  and  Weber  the  merit  of 
having  given  a  more  ideal  tendency  to  Concert  and  Salon  Music, 
earlier  calculated  merely  for  outward  effect,  by  endowing  his  attrac- 
tive compositions,  written  in  the  purest  pianoforte  style,  tvith  a  depth 
of  meaning  tvhich  everywhere  reveals  tlie  amiable  and  tvell- schooled 
musician.  We  have  to  name,  as  musicians  educated  directly  through 
his  teachings  and  intercourse  with  him,  his  sister  Fanny  Hensel,  nee 


—     145     — 

Meudelssolin-Bartlioldy,  whose  published  pianoforte  compositions  in- 
clude the  following:  —  3  books  of  Songs  ivitlioiit  Words,  op.  2  and  6, 
Berlin,  Bote  &  Bock;  op.  8,  Breitkopf  &  Hilrtel;  and  2  books  of 
Melodies  pour  le  Ficino,  op.  4  and  5,  Berlin,  Schlesinger.  Also 
J.  J.  H.  Verhulst  (b.  1816),  a  talented  Dutchman,  down  to  188G 
Hofmusikdirector  at  the  Hague;— and  the  Englishman  William  Stern- 
daie  Bennett  (1816 — 1875),  who  began  his  musical  studies  in  London 
under  Moscheles.  Having  become  acquainted  there  with  Mendelssohn, 
he  followed  the  latter  to  Germany,  and  until  his  death  remained  his 
faithful  pupil  and  friend.  He  lived  in  London  as  a  piano  teacher 
in  the  highest  circles,  and  in  1841  published  a  Pianoforte  3Iethod 
under  the  following  title:  "Classical  Practice  for  Pianoforte  Stiulents." 
Of  his  Pianoforte  Compositions,  all  of  which  show  refined  taste, 
may  be  mentioned  Four  Concertos,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  Fantasia  with 
Orchestra,  op.  22,  same  publ;  Trio  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violon- 
cello, op.  36,  London,  Cramer,  Beale  &  Co.;  Sonata  in  jP- minor, 
same  publ.— Car!  Reinecke  (b.  1824)  was  engaged  in  1851  as  piano 
teacher  at  the  Conservatory  at  Cologne,  went  in  1854  to  Barmen  as 
Musik director,  in  1859  to  Breslau,  and  in  1860  was  appointed 
Kapellmeister  of  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts,  and  at  the  same  time 
teacher  at  the  Conservatory.  "He  is  an  excellent  conductor,  an  emi- 
nent composer,  and  an  extremely  fine  pianist;  as  a  Mozart  player  he 
hardly  has  a  rival;  his  pianistic  individuality  is  quietness,  clearness, 
cleanness;  he  always  meets  with  a  most  enthusiastic  welcome  on  his 
almost  yearly  concert  tours,  especially  in  Scandinavia,  England,   the 

Netherlands,  and  Switzerland Of  his  many  pianoforte  pupih  we 

need  mention  only  Louis  Maas,  J.  Quast,  A.  Winding,  K.  Joseffy, 
Dora  Schirmaeher,  and  Jeanne  Becker.  Eeinecke's  pianoforte  com- 
positions reveal  throughout  the  refined  pianist;  he  has  published 
4  Pianoforte  Concertos,  1  Quintet,  1  Quartet,  6  Trios,  2  'Cello  Sona- 
tas, 4  Violin  Sonatas,  1  Fantasia  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin  (op.  160), 
1  Flute  Sonata  (op.  167),  1  Pianoforte  Sonata  for  4  hands,  several 
Sonatas  and  Sonatinas,  together  with  many  minor  piano  works". 
[RiEMANN,  Musik-Lexikon].— Carl  Liihrs  (1824—1882)  who  likewise 
profited  by  Mendelssohn's  instruction,  has  published  (Berlin,  Traut- 
wein)  very  graceful  "Miirchen",  little  pieces  for  the  pianoforte,  op.  2, 
in  two  books,  dedicated  to  the  distinguished  pianiste  Wilhelmlne 
Clauss-Szarvady  (b.  1833). 


10 


—     14G     — 


Adolf  Henselt. 

As  a  composer  nearly  related  to  Mendelssolm,  yet  pursuing  his 
own  path,  we  must  name  Adolf  Henselt,  likewise  noted  as  a  highly 
accomplished  pianoforte  virtuoso.  He  was  born  at  Schwabach  on 
May  12,  1814,  and  received  his  first  teaching  in  music  from  Gelieim- 
rdtJiin  von  Flad  in  Munich,  she  having  been  a  fellow-pupil  of 
Weber's  under  the  Abbe  Vogler.  In  his  seventeenth  year  King 
Ludwig  of  Bavaria  sent  him  to  Weimar,  to  continue  his  studies 
under  Hummel's  eye;  with  this  master  he  remained,  however,  but 
eight  months,  travelling  in  1832  to  Vienna,  where  he  studied  com- 
position under  Sechter,  at  the  same  time  training  himself  to  finished 
virtuosity  through  the  most  assiduous  practice.  In  1836  at  Berlin, 
and  later  at  Dresden  and  Weimar,  he  awakened  the  admiration  of 
his  hearers  in  private  circles,  and  is  said  to  have  played  Weber's 
sonatas,  in  particular,  with  wonderful  chann.  In  the  year  1837  he 
played  a  few  times  in  public  at  Berlin,  Leipzig,  and  Dresden,  ard 
then  journeyed  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  has  resided  since  1838 
as  a  teacher  of  high  standing  and  Court  pianist.  Among  his  care- 
fully elaborated  compositions,  which  are  teeming  with  novel  and 
characteristic  pianoforte  effects,  the  following  are  prominent:  —  two 
books  of  euphonious  and  melodious  Concert  Etudes,  op.  2,  Leipzig, 
Hofmeister,  including  the  oft-played  "Wenn  ich  ein  Voglein  war"  in 
Fi;  12  J^tudes  de  Salon,  op.  5,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  Poeme  d' amour, 
op.  3,  Berlin,  Schlesinger;  Bliapsodie,  op.  4;  2  Nocturnes,  op.  6; 
Fcnstc  fugitive,  and  Scherzo,  op.  8  and  9,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  Bo- 
manee,  op.  10,  same  publ.;  Variations  de  concert,  op.  11,  same  publ.; 
FruTilingslied,  op.  15;  Tahlcau  musical,  op.  16;  2  Impromptus,  op.  7 
and  17;  Romances  sans  paroles,  op.  18;  Toccatina,  op.  25;  false, 
op.  30;  Ballade,  Nocturne,  and  Chant  sans  paroles,  op.  31,  32,  33; 
1  Trio  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello,  op.  24;  and  a  grandly 
developed,  impassioned  Concerto  in  F-minor,  op.  16,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel, 
which  must  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  most  valuable  works  of 
pianoforte  literature.  We  must  also  notice  his  Excrcices  preparatoires, 
Berlin,  Schlesinger:  Illusion  perdue,  op.  34,  same  publ.;  Valse  melan- 
colique,  op.  36,  Breslau,  Hainaucr;  Souvenir  de  Vorsovie,  Valse  bril 
lante,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  Chant  sans  paroles,  Leipzig,  Stoll;  Liillahy 
{G^\  Vienna,  Mechetti. 


—     147     — 


b.   France. 

The  last  eminent  clavier-player  and  organist  of  the  earlier  French 
seliool  was  the  distinguished  theoretician  J.  P.  Rameau  (b.  1685  in 
Dijon,  d.  1764  in  Paris).  Under  his  pupil  Claude  Balbastre  (1729 
to  1799)  the  former  serious  clavier  style  degenerated  into  complete 
shallowness.  The  compositions  published  by  the  latter  at  Paris  — 
Pieces  de  clavecin;  Quatre  suites  de  Noels  avec  variations  et  Quatuors 
l)Our  le  clavecin  avec  accompagnement  de  deux  violons,  une  basse 
et  deux  cors  ad  libitum  —  are  full  of  incorrect  and  trashy  phrases. 
But  his  organ-playing,  in  particular  the  Noels,  Christmas  pieces  with 
all  manner  of  variations,  always  drew  such  crowds  to  St.  Eoch,  and 
later  to  the  cathedral  of  Paris,  at  which  churches  he  was  engaged 
as  organist,  that  the  Archbishop  was  several  times  obliged  (1762  — 
1766)  to  prohibit  his  performing  the  midniglit  masses. 

When  Mozart  and  his  sister  visited  Paris  in  the  year  1763,  the 
two  most  prominent  clavier-players  there  were  Schobert  (1720 — 1768) 
and  Eckard  (1734 — 1809).  The  former,  a  native  of  Strassburg,  in 
1760  entered  the  service  of  the  Prince  of  Conti  at  Paris  as  harpsi- 
chordist. In  France,  Holland,  and  England  he  was  extolled  as  the  most 
original  composer  of  his  time;  he  is  said,  in  particular,  to  have  been 
the  first  to  endow  the  orchestral  accompaniment  of  his  Concertos 
with  a  peculiar  charm,  and  also  to  have  introduced  a  style  of  clavier- 
playing  quite  different  from  that  before  in  vogue.  Schobert,  whose 
given  name  canuot  now  be  ascertained  (on  the  title-pages  of  his 
works  only  the  family  name  is  to  be  found),  seems  to  have  been  little 
known  in  Germany,  although  it  must  be  said  in  praise  of  his  com- 
positions- that  they  were  supplied  with  the  most  graceful  melodies, 
and  that  their  expression  reveals  now  romantic  melancholy,  and  now 
animated  and  attractive  brilliancy.  He  left  17  Sonatas  for  Clavier 
and  Violin;  11  Sonatas  for  Clavier,  Violin,  and  Violoncello;  3  Quar- 
tets for  Clavier,  2  Violins,  and  Violoncello;  6  Symplionies  for  Clavier 
with  Violin  and  2  Horns;  6  Clavier  Concertos;  and  4  books  of 
Sonatas  for  Clavier  Solo;  they  were  printed  as  op.  1  to  18,  first  at 
Paris,  then  at  Amsterdam  by  Hummel,  and  in  London  after  his  death. 
One  of  the  clavier  sonatas  was  published  by  Haffner  in  Nuremberg 
in  the  (Euvres  melees,  Partie  XH.  —  His  contemporary  Johann  Gott- 
fried Eckard  was  born  of  poor  parents  at  Augsburg,  and  early  dis- 
played   a   great   fondness    for    music.     Without    instruction    from   a 

in* 


—     148     — 

teacher,  he  fitted  himself  through  unremitting  industry  to  execute 
the  most  difficult  pieces  in  Bach's  Well-tempered  Clavichord.  The 
talented  Eckard  was  induced  by  a  friend,  the  organ  and  clavier- 
maker  Johann  Andreas  Stein  of  later  celebrity,  to  bear  him  com- 
pany on  a  journey  to  Paris  in  1758.  Eckard,  who  was  also  a  skill- 
ful draughtsman,  earned  his  living  there  at  first  by  portrait-painting, 
and  employed  the  nighttime  for  the  prosecution  of  his  musical  studies. 
This  untiring  zeal  did  not  fail  of  reward;  his  clavier -playing  soon 
found  such  favor  that  he  decided  upon  remaining  permanently  in 
Paris.  Andreas  Stein  returned  to  Augsburg;  his  pianoforte  was  sub- 
sequently (1777)  preferred  by  Mozart  to  all  other  instruments  of  its 
class.  Eckard  published  in  Paris  6  Clavier  Sonatas  (1765),  also  tsvo 
Sonatas,  op.  2,  and  "Menuet  d'Exaudet,  varie  pour  le  clavecin",  and 
died  there  in  1809  as  one  of  the  first  clavier- players  of  his  time. 
Schubart,  in  his  "Ideen  zu  eiuer  Aesthetik  der  Tonkunst",  devotes  an 
extended  article  to  him,  writing  among  other  things:  "Eckard  does 
not  write  with  the  fire  of  a  Schobert,  but  makes  amends  for  this  by 
greater  profundity.  Rousseau,  the  profound  thinker  and  musician, 
ranks  Eckard  with  the  foremost  clavier-players  of  the  world.  —  The 
way  in  which  Eckard  attained  perfection  is  well  deserving  of  notice. 
He  first  selected  a  harpsichord,  in  order  to  practice  the  simple  con- 
tours and  to  strengthen  his  hand:  for  the  hand  tires  much  sooner  on 
a  fortepiano  or  clavichord.  Only  after  some  years  did  Eckard  play 
on  a  fortepiano,  and  finally  on  the  clavichord,  in  order  to  endow  his 
sketch  with  body,  tone,  and  life.  Thus  Eckard  has  become  the  great 
man,  whom  France  and  Germany  admire  in  him." 

The  modern  French  Pianoforte  school,  however,  which  teaches 
according  to  a  fixed  method,  and  in  which  a  certain  style  in 
compositions  and  interpretations  is  set  up  as  a  traditionary  model, 
owes  its  origin  to  a  pupil  of  C.  Ph.  E.  Bach,  its  founder  being 
Nicolaus  Joseph  Hiillmandel  (b.  in  Strassburg,  1751,  d.  in  London, 
1823),  an  artist,  like  the  preceding,  but  little  known  in  Germany. 
After  travels  in  Italy,  this  distinguished  clavier-player,  who  is  like- 
wise described  as  an  extremely  amiable  person,  came  in  1776  to 
Paris,  where  the  way  was  paved  for  his  favorable  reception  by 
several  compositions  of  his,  already  published  there  (6  Sonatas  pour 
Clavecin,  Violon,  et  Basse,  op.  1,  17G0).  In  a  short  time  he  rose  to 
be  ovuP  of  the  leading  and  most  popular  clavier-teachers;  he  was  in- 
vited into  the  highest  circles,  published  several  clavier- works  (op.  1 
to  11,  Boycr-Nadermann  &  Sieber;   Petits  airs  faciles  et  progressifs, 


—     149     — 

op,  5,  Oirenbach,  Anclvc),  aud  in  1787  married  a  wealthy  heiress, 
who  prevailed  upon  him  to  withdraw  completely  from  the  world  of 
artists. 

The  Conservatory  of  Music  at  Paris  was  opened  in  the  year 
1792,  and  one  of  the  finest  of  the  pupils  trained  by  Hullmandel, 
Hyacinthe  Jadin  (b.  1769  at  Versailles),  was  chosen  as  head  of  the 
department  of  piano -playing.  Among  his  compositions  some  Fiano- 
forte  Concertos  (Paris,  i\lichel  Ozy,  Erard  &  Pleyel)  were  very  popu- 
lar at  the  time;  but  they  were  already  written  under  the  influence 
of  Ignaz  Pleyel's  works,  which  made  an  unprecedented  sensation 
from  1785  to  1795.  Hyacinthe  Jadin  died  in  1802,  and  in  the  same 
year  his  brother  and  pupil  Louis  Emanuel  Jadin  entered  the  Con- 
servatory as  professor.  This  latter,  the  composer  of  39  operas  and 
other  considerable  works,  was  also  the  first  to  bring  into  vogue  those 
abominable  botches,  the  Melanges  and  Potpourris,  wherein  "favorite 
melodies"  are  senselessly  linked  together  by  some  few  inane  measures 
for  the  purpose  of  tickling  the  ears  of  dilettanti. 

The  pianoforte  school  of  the  Paris  Conservatory  received  its 
most  important  impetus  from  Louis  Adam.  He  was  born  near  Strass- 
burg  in  1758,  early  developed  himself  to  an  able  pianist  through 
the  study  of  the  works  of  Sebastian  and  Emanuel  Bach,  Scarlatti, 
and  Schobert,  and  came  to  Paris  in  1775  as  a  music  teacher.  Here 
he  also  became  familiar  with  Mozart's  and  dementi's  compositions, 
and  exercised  a  highly  beneficial  influence  in  developing  the  taste  of 
his  numerous  pupils  by  his  preference  for  the  substantial  works  of 
the  above  masters.  In  1797  he  was  appointed  professor  of  the  Con- 
servatory, where  he  turned  out  a  goodly  number  of  noted  pianists, 
among  whom  F.  Kalkbrenner,  F.  Chaulieu,  Henri  Le  Moine,  and 
H6rold  are  especially  prominent.  After  a  service  of  forty-five  years 
he  was  pensioned  in  1843,  and  died  in  1848  at  the  age  of  90.  Of 
his  compositions,  the  variations  on  "Le  Eoi  Dagobert"  vrere  for  some 
time  a  special  favorite  with  pianists.  Adam  rendered  a  great  service 
through  a  more  definite  regulation  of  the  fingering,  by  a  work  written 
with  L.  W.  Lachnith's  co-operation:  "Methode  ou  principe  generale 
du  doigte  pour  le  Forte -piano,  suivie  d'une  collection  complete  de 
tons  les  traits  possibles  avec  le  doigte",  Paris,  Sieber,  1798,  and  his 
"Mcthode  nouvelle  pour  le  Piano  a  I'usage  des  eleves  du  conserva- 
toire" proved  of  such  practical  utility,  that  from  1802  to  1831  it  ran 
through  five  editions  in  Paris. 

To  fill  the  position  of  a  pianoforte  teacher  at  the  Paris  Conscv- 


—     150     — 

vatoiy,  made  vacant  by  the  decease  of  Hyacinthe  Jadin  in  1802,  a 
competition  (concours)  was  arranged,  for  which  Cherubini,  then  one 
of  tlie  Inspectors,  composed  several  fugues.  Louis  Barthelemi  Pradher 
(^Pradere)  (b.  1781  in  Paris,  d.  1843  in  Gray)  was  so  fortunate  as  to 
obtain  the  position,  as  he  nut  only  played  the  above  difficult  com- 
positions fluently  at  sight,  but  also  proved  himself  a  thorough  virtuoso 
by  performing  a  concerto  by  Dussek.  After  laboring  25  years  at  the 
Conservatory,  he  went  to  Toulouse,  where  he  became  Director  of  a 
similar  musical  institute.  Among  the  pupils  trained  by  him  in  Paris, 
the  brothers  Henri  and  Jacques  Herz,  Dubois,  Eosellen,  and  Hunten 
must  be  mentioned  as  most  distinguished. 

The  eleve  of  the  Conservatory  already  alluded  to,  Friedrich 
Kalkbrenner,  was  destined  to  spread  throughout  musical  Europe  the 
fame  of  the  French  Pianoforte  School,  which  during  its  brief  existence 
had  attained  to  such  encouraging  results.  He  was  born  at  Cassel  in 
1784,  and  received  his  first  musical  insti-uction  from  his  father.  The 
latter  assumed  the  post  of  chorus-master  of  the  grand  opera  at  Paris 
in  1798,  the  son  then  continuing  his  studies  at  the  Conservatory.  In 
pianoforte-playing  he  was  taught  by  Adam,  in  composition  somewhat 
later  by  Cattel,  and  made  so  decided  progress  under  both,  that  he 
won  the  first  prize  aAvarded  for  the  two  branches  named  as  early  as 
1801.  In  1803  his  father  sent  him  to  Vienna,  that  his  development 
might  be  promoted  by  the  brilliant  performances  of  Clementi,  then 
sojourning  in  that  place;  on  his  return  to  Paris  in  1806  the  brilliant 
distinction  of  his  playing  rendered  him  one  of  the  most  highly 
esteemed  teachers.  The  presence  of  Dussek,  who  was  engaged  in 
Paris  from  1808  to  1812  as  master  of  concerts  to  the  Prince  of 
Talleyrand,  and  whose  sonorous  pianoforte  works  found  great  ap- 
plause, had  an  extremely  happy  influence  on  the  further  perfecting 
of  Kalbrenner's  style  of  playing  and  composing,  and  on  the  prosperity 
of  the  French  pianoforte  school  as  a  whole.  From  1814  to  1823 
Kalkbrenner  dwelt  in  England.  His  finished  performances  were  re- 
ceived there  with  demonstrative  applause,  and  the  numerous  brilliant 
(compositions  afterwards  published  by  him  were  eagerly  sought  for 
and  much  played.  At  that  time  the  so-called  chiroplast  or  hand- 
gujde,  an  apparatus*  invented  by  Johann  Bernhard  Logier  to  aid 


*  Two  parallel  rails  attached  in  front  of  the  keyboard,  between  which 
the  hands  were  free  to  move  to  the  right  and  left,  but  were  constrained  to 
remain  at  a  proper  distance  from  the  keys. 


—     151     — 

in  gainini::  a  correct  position  of  the  hands  in  piano -pla}'ing;,  was  in 
great  YOgue  in  London,  and  in  the  year  1817  Logier  united  with 
Samuel  Webbe  and  Kalkbrenner  to  found  an  Academy  in  which, 
besides  piano-playing,  the  theory  of  music  was  also  taught  according 
to  an  easily  comprehended  method.  Here,  in  various  classes,  all 
pupils  possessed  of  an  equal  degree  of  skill  were  taught  simulta- 
neously. This  method  was  brought  to  Germany  by  Dr.  Franz  Stopel, 
and  taught  since  then  in  the  institute  of  Adele  Dorn  at  Bei-lin,  and 
in  that  of  Louis  Wandelt  at  Breslau,  although  not  without  many 
changes  and  improvements. 

Li  1821  Moscheles  had  also  settled  in  London,  and  his  powerful 
and  finished  style  did  not  remain  without  influence  on  Kalkbrenner's 
performances.  The  latter,  however,  bent  all  his  energies  to  the 
greatest  possible  perfection  of  his  technical  skill,  and  calculated  his 
compositions  purely  for  placing  the  same  in  the  best  light;  whereas 
Moscheles  continually  strove  to  render  the  subjects  of  his  compositions 
interesting,  and  through  his  virtuosity  to  lend  them  the  most  living 
expression.  In  1823  and  1824  Kalkbrenner  gave  concerts  in  Frank- 
fort, Leipzig,  Dresden,  Berlin,  Prague,  and  Vienna,  and  was  received 
everywhere  with  loud  applause,  even  beside  Moscheles,  then  making- 
like  professional  tours.  He  then  returned  to  Paris,  where  he  became 
a  partner  in  Pleyel's  Fortepiano  Factory,  while  at  the  same  time 
ranking  as  the  head  of  the  modern  French  pianoforte  school,  whose 
foremost  merit  is  the  precept,  to  avoid  all  exertion  of  the  arm  in 
liil ailing,  and  to  concentrate  tJie  entire  strength  in  the  fingers,  wldch 
arr.  to  he  equally  developed  in  hoth  hands.  Kalkbrenner  not  only 
required  passages  in  thirds  and  sixths  to  be  executed  by  the  right 
or  left  hand,  but  added  to  the  same  the  higher  octave  of  the  lower 
tone;  he  introduced  effective  double  and  triple  trills,  and  was  the 
first  to  write  extended  compositions  for  the  left  hand  alone,  which 
he  played  with  finished  ease.  His  op.  42  is  1  Sonate  pour  la  main 
gauche  principale  (T^eipzig,  Kistner);  we  also  find  a  four -part  fugue 
in  his  Methode  pour  apprendre  le  Piano  a  I' aide  du  Guide-mains; 
contenant  les  principes  de  la  musique;  un  systeme  complet  de  doigte; 
des  regies  sur  I'expression,  etc.,  op.  108,  dedicated  to  all  conservatories 
of  music  in  Europe  (same  publ.).  Among  his  pupils  Madame  Pleyel, 
in  particular,  is  distinguished  as  the  finest  French  jj/ams^e.  On  the 
very  pinnacle  of  virtuosity,  Kalkbrenner  aroused  the  greatest  enthu- 
siasm in  the  years  1833,  1834,  and  1836  on  his  trips  to  Hamburg, 
Berlin,  Brussels,   and   other  places.     But  with  his   compositions,    the 


—     152     — 

majority  of  which  are  devoted  solely  to  outward  effect,  begin  the 
series  of  those  meaningless  salon  pieces,  v.hich  blunt  the  taste  for 
loftier  music,  and  whose  titles  unhappily  yet  fill  most  pages  in  the 
catalogues  of  certain  publishing  houses.  Kalkbrenner  died  in  Enghien 
near  Paris  in  1849.  Of  his  four  Pianoforte  Concertos,  op.  61,  85, 
107,  and  127,  the  first,  in  D-minor,  has  found  most  favor.  Among 
his  other  works  we  note  Grand  Concerto  pour  2  Pianos  in  C,  op.  125; 
Gage  d'amitie,  op.  66;  Les  cJiarmes  de  Berlin,  op.  70,  also  op.  101 
and  102;  Bondeaux  hriJJants  with  orchestral  accompaniment;  Fan- 
tasias and  Variations  with  Orchestra,  op.  72,  83,  90,  and  113;  Sona- 
tas for  Pianoforte  solo,  op.  1,  dedicated  to  L.  Adam;  op.  28,  to 
J.  B.  Cramer;  op.  48,  Cherubini;  also  op.  4,  13,  35,  and  56;  1  Grande 
Sonate  for  4  hands,  op.  79;  Grand  Duo  for  2  Pianos,  op.  128;  J^tudes, 
Caprices,  Fugues,  etc.,  op.  20,  54,  88,  104,  125;  a  large  number  of 
pieces  with  accompaniment  of  one  or  more  instruments,  and  numerous 
Fantasias  and  Variations  for  Pianoforte  solo. 

The  decay  oi'  this  later  French  school  of  brilliant  Pianoforte- 
playing  begins  with  the  compositions  of  the  above-mentioned  pupils 
of  Pradher  (Herz,  Kosellen,  and  Hiinten),  which  are  for  the  most  part 
characterless,  being  calculnted  merely  for  the  most  striking  pianoforte 
effects  attainable,  or  for  shallow  prettiness,  and  which  remained  for 
a  time  in  vogue.  These  three  fashionable  composers  and  their  imi- 
tators at  first  tickled  the  already  blase  palates  of  the  pianists  with 
novel  and  piquant  difficulties,  and  then  contented  themselves  with 
setting  the  sweetest  tidbits  before  the  musical  gourmands,  finally 
quite  giving  up  the  ghost  at  the  birth  of  the  Romantic  School,  on 
the  appearance  of  Chopin's  soul-stirring  tone-poems. 

The  first-named,  Heinrich  Herz,  was  born  at  Vienna  in  1806, 
came  early  to  Coblenz,  took  his  first  piano -lessons  there  from  the 
organist  Daniel  Hiinten,  and  in  his  eighth  year  already  executed 
Ilummel's  Variations  op.  8  ("sopra  una  canzonetta  nationale  austriaca") 
with  applause  at  a  public  concert.  His  father  sent  liim  in  1816  to 
the  Conservatory  at  Paris,  where  he  soon  became  Pradher's  favorite 
pupil.  In  the  very  next  examinations  Herz  was  to  shine  as  a  pianist, 
when  an  attack  of  the  measles  supervened.  But  four  days  before 
the  concours  he  gathered  up  his  strength,  began  his  practicing  afresh, 
and  carried  off  the  first  prize  at  the  competition  by  his  brilliant  per- 
formance of  the  12th  Concerto  by  Dussek  and  an  Etude  by  Clemen ti. 
In  the  year  1818  he  issued  his  first  compositions:  Air  tyrolien  varie, 
and  Eondcaii  alia  Cosacca,  which  were  at  once  favorably  received. 


—     153 

A  great  influence  on  his  later  pianoforte  works,  and  also  on  the 
finishing  of  his  style  of  playing,  was  exerted  by  the  concerts  given 
by  Moscheles  at  Paris  in  1820  and  crowned  with  triumphant  success. 
Thenceforward  it  was  Hcrz's  ambition  to  surpass  that  master,  if 
possible,  in  virtuosity,  and  to  lend  more  grace  and  brilliancy  to  his 
own  compositions;  while  Moscheles  after  that  time  evidentl}^  strove 
to  endow  his  compositions  and  performances  with  greater  dignity  and 
deeper  meaning.  Herz's  Pianoforte  Compositions,  for  which  the  pub- 
lishers paid  unheard-of  prices,  were  the  reigning  favorites  during 
some  15  years;  and  his  concerts,  too,  especially  those  undertaken  in 
company  with  the  eminent  violin  virtuoso  Lafont  in  Germany  (1831), 
were  attended  by  the  liveliest  applause.  To  the  co-operation  of 
these  two  virtuosi  the  pleasing  composition  "Duo  et  Variations  con- 
certans  pour  Piano  et  Violon  sur  la  romance  C'est  une  larme,  par 
Lafont  et  Henri  Herz",  owes  its  origin.  In  1834  Herz  visited  London, 
Dublin  and  Edinburgh,  his  easy  and  elegant  style  of  playing  earning 
him  ovations,  particularly  in.  the  last  two  cities.  One  of  his  most 
effective  pieces  at  the  time  was  the  Variations  dc  bravoure  sur  la 
romance  de  Joseph  in  C,  op.  20,  in  which  among  other  things  the 
theme  is  executed  in  leaps,  the  extremes  of  which  are  two  octaves 
apart.  In  the  year  1824  he  took  an  interest  in  the  pianoforte 
factory  of  Klepfer  of  Paris,  and  subsequently  established  one  of  his 
own,  which  has  since  then  turned  out  excellent  concert  grands.  His 
earlier  compositions,  like  the  three  grand  Concertos,  op.  34,  74,  and 
87,  also  the  Bondeau  briUant  dedicated  to  Moscheles,  op.  11,  often 
afford  the  player  interesting  and  fiery  passages  and  effective  difficul- 
ties; whereas  the  later  ones  —  excepting  the  J^tudes,  op.  100  (from 
his  Methodc  de  Piano),  119,  151,  152,  and  153  —  consist  of  meagre 
Fantasias,  Variations,  and  other  worthless  amateur-pieces. 

Henri  Bertini  (b.  1798  in  London),  who  made  Paris  his  perma- 
nent residence  from  1821,  followed  a  loftier  tendency  in  his  com- 
positions. He  appears  in  the  same  as  a  weak  reflection  of  Hummel; 
but  his  numerous  instruction  books,  in  iinrticulax^— Etudes  progressives, 
clementaires  et  de  perfection,  arranged  in  the  Berlin  edition  of  Schle- 
singer  progressively  according  to  difficulty,  as  op.  84,  100,  101,  86, 
97,  29,  32,  66,  and  94 — have  permanent  value  as  practice-pieces  and 
for  a  time  were  preferred  to  all  others  by  thorough  teachers.  Bertini 
died  in  1876. 

The  pianoforte  works  published  by  Hiinten  &  Rosellen,  the  above- 
mentioned  fellow-pupils  of  Herz,  under  their  name,  sank  to  the  merest 


—     154     — 

factory  work,  although  when  issued  they  went  off  so  rapidly  that 
the  puhlishers  paid  higher  prices  for  single  sheets  of  the  same,  than 
the  complete  larger  works  of  Beethoven  had  brought.  The  inventor 
of  such  trash  in  Paris  seems  to  have  been  Henri  Karr  (b.  1784),  the 
father  of  the  noted  writer  Alphonse  Karr.  N.  I'Etendart,  regarded 
as  the  best  eleve  of  the  organist  Balbatre  earlier  alluded  to,  gave 
Henri  Karr  instruction  in  music  and  recommended  him  to  the  Brothers 
Erard,  the  celebrated  pianoforte  makers,  as  a  skilful  player  for  show- 
ing off  the  instruments  in  their  ware-rooms.  He  was  engaged  by 
them  for  2000  francs,  and  in  the  publishing  house  of  the  same 
firm  appeared  his  first  and  better  compositions  {Sonate  pour  Piano, 
op.  1,  etc.).  These  having  gained  a  certain  vogue,  however,  he  gave 
up  his  position,  and  now  supplied  to  order,  after  given  patterns  and 
specified  melodies,  over  200  Fantasias,  Divertissements,  Bondeaux, 
JBagatelles,  and  similar  stuff,  which  were  eagerly  taken  by  dilettanti 
in  the  decade  from  1811  to  1821.  After  that  time,  however,  a  rival 
arose  in  the  person  of  Franz  Kilnten  (b.  1793  in  Coblenz,  died  there  in 
1878),  who  entered  the  Paris  Conservatory  in  1819,  and  whose 
Variations  militaires  a  4  mains,  op.  12,  a  childish  imitation  of 
Moscheles'  variations  on  the  Alexander  March,  had  such  extraordi- 
nary success,  that  in  the  course  of  time  the  publishers  fairly  besieged 
him  with  orders  for  similar  divertissenients ,  which,  though  easy  to 
play,  sounded  brilliant  in  the  ears  of  amateurs.  With  the  great 
demand,  the  price  of  the  article  also  rose;  and  Hiinten  finally  re- 
ceived for  a  book  of  8  or  10  printed  pages  the  outrageous  price  of 
1500  to  2000  francs.  From  1835  he  lived  in  Coblenz  on  his  in- 
come, and  his  fellow-pupil  Henri  Rosellen  (b.  1811  in  Paris)  then 
continued  the  same  lucrative  business,  for  which,  however,  several 
competitors  had  come  forward,  such  as  J.  Ascher,  Friedrich  Burg- 
miiller,  H.  Ravina,  Henri  Cramer,  and  Charles  Voss,  whose  works 
are  even  surpassed  in  worthlessncss  by  the  Fantasias  and  Potpourris 
of  Ferdinand  Beyer,  C.  T.  Brunner,  J.  B.  Duvernoy,  H.  Martin,  Theo- 
dor  Oesten,  etc.  The  occupation  with  such  brainless  productions  of 
fashion  dulls  the  sense  of  the  pupil  for  all  more  serious  and  valuable 
work,  without  furthering  his  technical  skill  in  any  way  whatever; 
an  able  and  conscientious  teacher  will  therefore  not  require  the  pupils 
committed  to  his  charge  to  kill  their  time  with  the  same. 

Moritz  Hauptmann's  talented  pupil  Norbert  Burgmiiller  (1810 — 
1836)  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  above-mentioned  Friedrich 
Burgmiiller;  but  few  of  the  inspired  compositions  of  the  former  have 


—     155     — 

been  published.  Among  liis  pianoforte  works,  op.  1,  Concerto  with 
orchestra  in  Fj}-minor,  and  op.  16,  Polonaise,  were  issued  by  Fried. 
Kistner,  Leipzig;  —  op.  8,  Sonata  in  i^- minor,  a  Romance  from  the 
same,  with  portrait,  and  Bhapsodie,  op.  13,  by  Fr.  Hofmeister. 

The  number  of  those  pianoforte  amateui-s  who  seek  and  esteem 
only  brilliant  compositions  for  their  instrument,  which  promise  to  ex- 
hibit their  skill  in  the  strongest  light,  is  very  considerable.  The  way 
marked  out  by  Henri  Herz  and  Sigismund  Thalberg,  lying  wholly 
within  the  domain  of  virtuosity,  has  therefore  been  trodden  by  many, 
among  whom  may  be  named  Antoine  de  Kontski  (b.  1817  in  Cracow), 
well  known  as  a  brilliant  player  through  his  professional  tours  throughout 
Europe,  whose  pianoforte  works,  of  a  most  conceited  and  affected 
style,  have  reached  the  number  of  200,  among  them  Le  reveil  da 
lion,  op.  115;  Le  trille  du  diahJe,  op  53;  Fleurs  melodiqiies,  op.  77; 
Feuilles  volantes,  op.  139;  fui'thermore  Emile  Prudent  (1820 — 1863), 
whose  smooth  and  clean  playing  was  much  praised  in  Paris,  and 
who  published  among  other  things  the  salon  pieces  Le  reveil  des  fees, 
op.  41;  Les  najades,  op.  45;  Etudes  de  genre,  op.  16. 

The  compositions  of  Karl  Wehle  (b.  1825,  d.  1883),  a  talented 
pupil  of  J.  Proksch,  who  lived  for  the  most  part  in  Paris,  are  of  a 
pleasing  and  unassuming  character,  and  are  favorites  on  account  of 
their  elegant  and  easily  mastered  pianoforte  style;  we  note  Foeme 
d' amour,  op.  6;  Ballade,  op.  11;  Serenade  napolitaine,  op.  31;  Marclie 
cosaque,  op.  37.— Wilhelm  Kriiger  (b.  1823  in  Stuttgart,  d.  1883  in 
that  city)  also  held  for  several  years  a  distinguished  position  in  Paris 
as  a  pianist  and  composer  for  his  instrument;  of  his  larger  pianoforte 
works  we  mention  the  Concerto  in  G,  op.  42,  dedicated  to  the  King 
of  Wiirttemberg;  a  grand  Sonata  in  G,  op.  100,  dedicated  to  Duke 
Ernest  of  Coburg-Grotha;  and  the  interesting  salon  pieces  La  gazelle, 
op.  14;  La  harpe  eolienne,  op.  25;  CJianson  du  gondolier,  op.  40; 
Menuet  symplioniqiie,  op.  56;  Presto  impromptu,  op.  57;  Marclie  noc- 
turne, op.  96;  Zigeuner  mar  sell,  op.  104;  La  coupe  d'or,  op.  110;  and 
many  others.  He  likewise  edited  a  Complete  Edition  of  the  Clavier 
Works  of  G.  F.  Handel  for  the  publishing  house  of  Cotta,  Stuttgart. 


156     — 


¥1.  The  romantic  Style. 


Francois  Frederic  Chopin. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1831,  when  the  Polish  revolution 
had  excited  all  minds  to  feverish  agitation,  and  the  wanton  carnival 
of  the  authors  of  the  dazzling,  but  meaningless  virtuoso -pieces  just 
described  was  at  its  height,  Chopin,  then  twentj^-one,  entered  the 
gay  and  brilliant  salons  of  Paris,  pale  and  ethereal  as  an  apparition 
from  another  world.  Here,  invited  to  try  one  of  those  Pleyel  piano- 
fortes which  he  later  preferred  to  all  others  on  account  of  "their 
veiled,  silvery  tone",  he  drew  from  it,  in  the  pathetic  crystal  tones 
of  the  harmonica,  songs  of  the  sufferings,  the  stifled  complaints,  the 
high-soaring  hopes  of  his  people.  In  the  hall  reigned  the  silence  of 
death.  None  dared  breathe  freely.  Not  till  the  last  tones  of  his 
soul-stirring  elegies  died  away,  was  he  greeted  with  a  burst  of  en- 
thusiasm, which  was  decisive  for  the  future  position  of  the  young 
Pole  in  Paris.  He  was  immediately  welcomed  into  the  circles  of  the 
many  high  Polish  families  then  in  the  French  capital,  and  his  numer- 
ous lady  pupils  were  as  extravagantly  fond  of  their  so  amiable  in- 
structor as  of  his  romantico -poetical  tone-poems,  that  opened  a  new 
field  of  music.  Franz  Liszt,  who  after  Chopin's  untimely  death  de- 
dicated such  an  exquisite  tribute*  to  his  memory,  was  one  of  the 
first  to  recognize  his  high  significance  for  musical  art.  For  this  reason 
Chopin  loved  him  in  particular,  choosing  this  friend,  so  congenial  to 
him  in  art  and  by  nature,  before  all  others  as  the  interpreter  of 
his  characteristic  compositions.  The  leaders  in  art  and  literature  did 
him  homage,  and  Liszt  once  found  assembled  in  his  room,  dimly 
lighted  only  by  the  candles  on  the  piano,  the  spirituelle  Mme.  George 
Sand,  the  saddest  of  all  humorists,  Heine,  the  head  of  the  romantic 
school  of  painting,  the  daring  Eugene  Delacroix,  and  the  venerable 
Memcewicz,  together  with  Meyerbeer,  Bellini,  Adolphe  Nourrit,  Hiller, 
and  the  hitter's  best  pupil  and  fast  friend  Gutmaun,  all  intent  upon 
listening  to  his  marvellous  playing.     Chopin  played  unwillingly,  and 


*  F.  Chopin  par  Liszt.    Paris,  M.  Escudier;  nouvelle  Edition,  1877,  Leipzig, 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel. 


I  —     157     — 

therefore  but  seldom,  in  public  concerts;  but  in  the  salon  his  playing 
had  an  indescribable  charm.  He  phrased  and  accented  his  composi- 
tions in  the  freest  manner,  and  in  the  earlier  works  often  indicated 
this  by  „tempo  rubato".  The  rhythm  then  wavered,  sinking  and 
rising  "like  a  flame  agitated  by  the  breath".  He  was  unwearying 
in  the  endeavor  to  transmit  his  peculiar  style  of  rendering  to  his 
pupils  —  ladies,  for  the  most  part  —  and  expected  that  the  player 
of  the  pieces  published  later  would  in  himself  be  able  to  feel  and 
apply  "the  rule  of  this  irregularity  of  measure"  even  without  that 
indication. 

Frangois  Frederic  Chopin,  whose  family  was  of  French  origin, 
was  born  on  March  1,  1809,  in  Zelazowa  near  "Warsaw.  At  the  age 
of  nine  the  boy,  from  childhood  nervously,  weak  and  infirm,  began 
his  musical  studies  under  an  old  Bohemian  musician  named  Zwiny, 
who  admired  Sebastian  Bach's  works  above  all  others.  Prince  Anton 
Radziwill  later  took  the  talented  youth  under  his  protection,  and 
cared  for  the  completion  of  his  training;  his  tender,  emotional  play- 
ing rendered  him  a  welcome  guest  in  the  first  Polish  families.  The 
theory  of  music  was  taught  him  by  Eisner,  the  Director  of  the  Con- 
servatory at  Wareaw;  through  short  excursions  to  Berlin,  Dresden, 
and  Prague  he  profited  by  hearing  practical  virtuosi,  until  he  went 
to  Vienna  in  1831,  where  he  made  his  d^but  in  concerts  of  his  own. 
The  correspondent  of  the  Leipzig  "Allgemeine  musikalische  Zeitung" 
(No.  46,  Nov.  18,  1829)  then  already  regarded  him  as  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  meteors  in  the  musical  heavens,  and  emphasized  as 
traits  of  true  genius  his  masterly  skill,  his  delicate  touch,  and  the 
melancholy  tinge  of  his  finely  shaded  interpretations.  On  account  of 
the  Polish  revolution  breaking  out  meantime,  he  prolonged  his  stay 
in  Vienna,  giving  his  farewell  concert  in  1831,  after  which  he  pro- 
posed to  make  a  brief  visit  to  Paris,  proceeding  thence  to  London. 
But  in  Paris  his  playing  and  compositions  met  with  such  favor,  that 
he  resolved  to  remain  there,  and  dwelt  in  that  city,  with  but  short 
interruptions,  until  his  death.  In  the  year  1837  he  showed  such 
alarming  symptoms  of  lung- disease,  that  physicians  advised  an  ex- 
tended sojourn  beneath  softer  skies.  He  therefore  betook  himself  to 
Majorca,  accompanied  by  George  Sand,  at  that  time  his  fondest 
admirer.  He  returned  refreshed  to  Paris,  but  as  early  as  1840  the 
symptoms  reappeared,  and  the  disease  took  a  highly  dangerous  turn 
in  1846  and  1847.  Nevertheless,  after  the  Paris  revolution  of  1848, 
he   decided  upon  a  trip  to  London,   where   he   appeared   in  public 


—     158     — 

Beveral  times,  and  arranged  a  final  concert  for  the  assistance  of  the 
Poles.  On  his  return  to  Paris  in  the  same  year  he  once  more  played 
in  a  concert;  on  the  17th  of  October,  1849,  he  died  there,  soothed 
by  the  tones  of  a  psalm  by  Marcello,  sung  at  the  request  of  the 
dying  man  by  his  favorite  pupil  the  Countess  Delphine  Potocka,  so 
distinguished  for  her  wit,  talent,  and  beauty. 

Chopin  published  one  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  £"- minor,  op.  11, 
and  another  in  F-minor,  op.  21;  the  latter,  the  Adagio  of  which  he 
was  especially  fond  of  and  often  played,  is  dedicated  to  the  Countess 
Potocka  just  mentioned.  His  otlier  compositions,  in  which,  foremostly, 
the  romantic  tone -poet  struck  chords  stirring  the  inmost  soul,  thus 
opening  the  way  for  a  new  style  of  music  filled  with  a  living  spirit, 
are  the  following:  5  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  solo,  op.  4,  35,  and  58 
(the  movement  in  the  second  entitled  "JMarche  Funebre"  was  per- 
formed at  his  funeral);  1  Sonata,  op.  65,  and  1  Polonaise,  op.  3,  for 
Pianoforte  and  Violoncello;  1  Trio  for  Pianoforte,  Violin  and  Violon- 
cello, op.  8;  1  grand  Polonaise,  interrupted  by  a  Mamrha,  in 
J^'j^-minor;  Polonaises,  op.  22,  26,  40,  53,  and  61;  3  Bondeaux, 
op.  1,  5,  and  16;  4  Ballades,  op.  23,  38,  47,  and  52;  eight  books 
of  Nocturnes,  op.  9,  15,  27,  32,  37,  48,  55,  and  62,  which  in  all 
probability  owe  their  origin  to  the  earlier  mentioned  compositions  of 
the  same  class  by  Field,  this  inventor  of  the  same  being  in  Paris  at 
the  very  time  when  Chopin  arrived  there;  a  set  of  24  Preludes  — 
precious  gems,  in  which  the  whole  poetic  nature  of  Chopin  shines 
and  sparkles  in  most  diverse  iridescence;  two  equally  importnnt 
series  of  fantastic  jStudes,  op.  10  and  25;  Fantasia  on  Polish  melo- 
dies, with  orchestral  accompaniment,  op.  13;  Kral-oviah  with  Orches- 
tra, op.  14;  Bolero,  op.  19;  3  Scherzi,  op.  20,  31,  and  39;  Impromp- 
tus, op.  29  and  36;  Tarantella,  op.  43;  Allegro  de  Concert,  op.  46 
and  51;  Fantasia,  op.  49;  Valses,  op.  18,  31,  34,  42,  and  64;  Varia- 
tions, op.  2  and  12;  and  finally  11  scries  of  Mamrl-as,  op.  6,  7,  17, 
24,  30,  33,  41,  50,  56,  59,  and  63.  — Chopin's  Works  have  been 
published  in  a  critically  revised  Complete  Edition  (folio)  in  14  Volu- 
mes, which  are  also  sold  separately,  by  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel.  Tlie 
same  firm  has  also  published  his  Pianoforte  Compositions  in  10  cheap 
octavo  volumes,  stiff  paper  covers,  red.  [Since  the  year  1879,  on 
the  last  day  of  which  the  copyright  in  Chopin's  works  exj^ired,  a 
great  number  of  complete  and  selected  .editions  have  appeared.  As 
both  the  best  and  earliest  of  these  must  be  mentioned  the  Complete 
Edition  edited  by  Carl  Klindworth  (first  published  in  Russia  and 


—     159     — 

afterwards  by  Bote  &  Bock  of  Berlin),  in  which,  through  a  careful 
revision  and  comparison  of  the  French,  German,  and  Polish  editions, 
together  with  the  aid  of  Liszt's  personal  recollections,  a  wellnigh 
perfect  text,  and  most  excellent  directions  for  phrasing  and  fingering, 
are  supplied.  Other  editions  have  appeared,  edited  by  Hermann 
Scholtz  (Peters),  Th.  KuUak,  Mertke,  and  others.     0.  L.] 

The  first  Polonaises  to  portray  in  colors  both  attractive  and  true 
to  nature  the  character  of  that  people,  to  whom  they  owe  their  name, 
were  composed  by  Count  Michael  Kleophas  Oginski;  the  most  cele- 
brated of  the  same,  the  so-called  Death  Polonaise  in  F,*  was  written 
in  1793.  These  pieces  created  such  a  general  sensation,  that  in  1820 
Oginski  published  a  collection  of  the  same  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Poor-house  in  Wilna,  which  netted  the  sum  of  10,000  rubles.  A 
Selection  of  14  of  these  Polonaises  has  been  issued  in  Collection 
Litolff  (L.  Kohler).  The  Koscms^Jco  Polonaise,  the  peer  of  the 
Marseillaise  in  its  exciting  effect  (Hamburg,  Boehme),  was  composed 
in  1794  during  the  uprising  led  by  that  hero.  Equally  characteristic 
with  these,  Chopin's  Polonaises  also  breathe,  now  a  profound,  elegiac 
mournfulness,  a  smile  effacing  in  melancholy,  and  now  an  inflexible 
pride,  an  indomitable  courage- 
Chopin,  however,  left  us  the  most  faithful  and  animated  pictures 
of  his  nation  in  the  Mazurkas,  which  form  finished  master-pieces  of 
ilicir  class.  Here  he  stands  forth  in  his  full  originality  as  the  head 
of  the  romantic  school  of  music;  in  them  his  novel  and  alluring  melodic 
and  harmonic  progressions  are  even  more  surprising  than  in  his  larger 
compositions.  They  are  strikingly  described  by  Liszt  as  follows: 
"►Some  portray  foolhardy  gaiety  in  the  sultry  and  oppressive  air  of 
a  ball  on  the  eve  of  a  battle;  one  hears  the  low  sighs  of  parting, 
whose  sobs  are  stifled  by  sharp  rhythms  of  the  dance;  others  betray 
the  grief  of  the  sorely  anxious  soul  amid  the  festivities,  whose  tumult 
is  unable  to  drown  the  profound  woe  of  the  heart;  others  again  show 
the  fears,  premonitions,  and  struggles  of  a  broken  heart  devoured  by 
jealousy,  sorrowing  over  its  loss,  but  repressing  the  curse.  Now  we 
are  surrounded  by  a  swirling  frenzy,  pierced  by  an  ever-recurring, 
palpitating  melody  like  the  anxious  beating  of  a  rejected  and  break- 
ing heart;  and  anon  distant  trumpet-calls  resound,  like  dim  memories 
of  by-gone  fame". 


*    The    first    of   the    "Four    Xational    Polonaises"    by    Oginski,    Berlin, 
Schlesino-er. 


—     160     — 

A  spirited  portrait  of  the  gifted  composer  is  given  by  Moritz 
Karasowski  in  the  work:  Friedrieh  Chopin.  Sein  Leben,  seine 
Werke  uud  Briefe.     2  Vols.,  1877.     Dresden,  Ries. 

Robert  Schumann. 

In  France,  Franz  Liszt  had  come  forward  as  the  enthusiastic 
champion,  both  by  word  and  deed,  of  the  neo-romantie  music  which 
was  to  seal  the  doom  of  the  loftily  affected  pianoforte  literature  then 
holding  sway.  In  Germany,  this  fresh  and  luxuriant  growth,  exhibit- 
ing at  once  the  freer  form  corresponding  to  its  novel  conception,  and 
unprecedentedly  bold  harmonies  and  modulations,  found  an  enthu- 
siastic admirer  and  defender  in  Robert  Schumann.  In  the  year  1834 
he  founded,  in  company  with  Friedrieh  Wieck,  Ludwig  Schunke,  and 
Julius  Knorr,  the  "Neue  Zeitschrift  flir  Musik"  in  Leipzig,  and  deter- 
mined to  take  the  field  most  energetically  against  the  constantly 
spreading  FJiilisfertJmm  (narrow  and  prosaic  pedantry),  and  to  reins- 
tate the  dethroned  poetry  of  art.  Through  this  periodical,  which 
speedily  found  general  favor,  and  was  edited  from  1835  to  1845  by 
himself,  Schumann  was  the  first  to  call  the  attention  of  Germany  to 
the  compositions  of  Chopin,  to  whom  he  felt  irresistibly  drawn;  and 
under  the  names  of  Eusebius,  Florestan,  and  Meister  Raro  he  scourged 
the  earlier  and  more  recent  insipid  pattern -work,  while  elucidating 
the  inspired  compositions  of  the  older  masters  and  their  ambitious 
followers  in  forceful  phrase  appropriate  to  the  matter  under  dis- 
cussion, 

Schumann  was  born  at  Zwickau  on  June  8,  1810,  and  showed 
from  earliest  youth  a  decided  inclination  to  and  talent  for  music.  At 
the  desire  of  his  parents  he  studied  law  at  Leipzig  in  1828,  and  at 
Heidelberg  in  1829,  but  in  the  ensuing  year  already  resolved  to 
devote  himself  entirely  to  music.  He  proceeded  to  Leipzig  in  order 
to  profit  by  the  instruction  of  the  excellent  pianoforte  teacher  Frie- 
drieh Wieck  (1785 — 1873);  the  latter  took  him  into  his  home,  and 
Schumann  thus  became  the  daily  companion  of  the  then  eleven-year 
old  daughter  of  the  house,  Clara  Wieck  (b.  1819  in  Leipzig).  At 
the  same  time  he  began  his  studies  in  composition  under  Heinricli 
Dorn,  then  likewise  dwelling  in  Leipzig,  to  which  he  soon  turned  his 
exclusive  attention,  an  experiment  to  which  he  had  subjected  his  left 
hand,  in  order  to  widen  the  stretch  of  the  same,  having  resulted  so 
unfortunately,  that  it  was  crippled  and  rendered  incapable  of  further 


—     1(31      — 

piano-playing.  His  first  compositions.  Tlihme  sur  le  vom  Ahegg  varie 
pour  le  Pianoforte,  op.  1.  (Leipzig,  Kistner),  and  Fapillons  pour  le 
Pianoforte,  op.  2  (ditto),  were  written  in  Heidelberg;  -after  tliese, 
Fr.  Hofmeister  of  Leipzig  piiblislied  Studies  for  the  Pianoforte  after 
Caprices  by  Paganini,  op.  3;  Intermcszi  per  il  Pianoforte,  op.  4,  and 
somewhat  later  Impromptus  on  a  tlieme  by  Clara  Wieck,  op.  5.  In 
1833  Schumann  contracted  an  intimate  friendship  with  the  distin- 
guished pianist  Ludwig  Schunke  (b.  1810  at  Cassel),  who  came  to 
Leipzig  from  Stuttgart,  among  whose  published  works  for  the  piano- 
forte we  note  an  Allegro  passionate ,  op.  6,  and  1  Pondo  hrillant, 
op.  11,  and  to  whom  Schumann  dedicated  1  Toccata  in  C  (Leipzig, 
Hofmeister).  But  in  the  very  next  year  the  unhappy  end  of  this 
friend,  who  threw  himself  out  of  a  window  in  Paris,  caused  him  the 
sharpest  grief. 

Schumann  had  styled  the  like-minded  co-workers  on  his  critical 
sheet  the  "Davidsblindler;"  this  name  he  also  gave  to  his  op.  6,  at 
first  issued  as  the  work  of  "Florestan  and  Eusebius",  but  in  later 
editions  under  his  own  name  (publ.  by  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.,  Leipzig). 
The  humoristic  pieces  also  belonging  to  this  period,  entitled  Carne- 
val,  Scenes  Mignonnes  sur  4  notes,  op.  9  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel), 
have  as  a  Finale  the  playfully  mocking  "March  of  the  Davidshiindler 
against  the  Philistines",  written  in  "/^  time.  The  notes  given  beneath 
the  title,  a  es  (c'l?)  c  h  (h),  and  as  («[;)  c  h  (&),  spell  the  name  of 
the  birthplace  (Asch)  of  his  first  youthful  flame,  to  whom  he  dedi- 
cated his  op.  8,  Allegro  pour  Ic  Pianoforte  in  i>- minor  (Leipzig, 
Rob.  Friese). 

In  his  earlier  compositions  Schumann  had  followed  the  ingenuously 
warm-hearted  tone  of  Weber  and  Mendelssohn;  but  in  the  pianoforte 
works  published  from  1835  to  1840  an  original  vein  is  struck.  His 
themes  become  more  serious  and  pregnant,  their  development  fuller 
and  more  exciting.  Beethoven  and  Schubert  had  proposed  a  new- 
theory  of  modulation,  and  Chopin,  by  a  peculiar  employment  of  chro- 
matic intervals  and  the  greatest  diversity  of  suspensions  and  retarda- 
tions, had  called  into  being  means  of  expression  not  yet  r.ssimilated 
in  the  theory  of  thorough-bass.  Impressionable  for  all  extensions  in 
the  theory  of  his  art,  Schumann  not  only  used  the  freedom  w^on  by 
his  predecessors,  but  himself  added  new  harmonies,  modulations,  and 
rhythms  to  the  common  stock  of  harmony  and  metre.  In  the  full 
flower  of  youth,  his  heart  aglow  with  love  for  his  Clara,  he  pro- 
duced the  followins:  momentous  Pianoforte  Compositions:  Three  grand 


—    :  62    — 

Sonatas,  op.  11  in  -Pj-miuor,  op.  14  in  JP-minor,  and  op.  22  in  G-minor, 
which  he  dedicated  to  Clara  Wieck,  Moscheles,  and  Henriette  Vogt, 
a  gifted  pupil  of  Ludwig  Berger;  the  first  publ.  by  Kistner,  the 
second  by  J.  Schubevth  &  Co.,  and  the  third  by  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel 
of  Leipzig-;  FantasiestncJce,  op.  12,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  Etudes  en 
forme  de  Variations,  op.  13,  a  fine  work  dedicated  to  Sterndale 
Bennett,  Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  Kreisleriana ,  op.  16,  Leipzig 
1839,  G.  Heinze  —  adventurous  scenes  of  sonl- stirring  pathos,  dedi- 
cated to  Chopin,  and  revealing  the  full  depth  of  our  composer's 
emotional  life;  Fantasie,  op.  17,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  —  dedicated  to 
Franz  Liszt,  and  instinct  with  an  irresistible  romantic  attraction  and 
hot -glowing  passion;  Novclletfcn,  op.  21,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  Nacht- 
stilcJx,  op.  23,  Vienna,  Spina;  FascMngsscliwanlc,  op.  26,  ditto,  ani- 
mated scenes  and  situations,  ingeniously  and  delicately  wrought  out 
in  the  most  manifold  colors  and  motliest  succession.  Finally  there 
still  belong  to  this  period  the  Kindersccnen,  easy  pieces  for  the  piano- 
forte, op.  15,  Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  which  was  the  first  of  his 
compositions  to  be  understood  and  appreciated  in  wider  circles. 

Clara  Wieck  made  her  first  professional  tours  through  Germany 
in  1836  to  1838,  and  her  spirited  playing  everywhere  received  the 
most  flattering  applause.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  hav- 
ing been  bestowed  on  Schumann  in  1840,  she  became  his  wife,  and 
in  1844  they  undertook  a  journey  to  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  in 
which  cities  both  the  wife's  playing  and  the  husband's  compositions 
met  with  a  most  favorable  reception.  On  returning  to  Leipzig,  Schu- 
mann entrusted  the  editorship  of  the  Neue  Zeitschrift  ftir  Musik  to 
Franz  Brendel's  hands;  it  had  fulfilled  its  mission,  "it  had  set  a  dam 
in  the  way  of  mechanical  imitation  and  easy  frivolit}^,  and  pioneered 
the  way  for  a  poetically  spiritualized,  earnestly  striving  tendency  of 
art;  Schumann  had  no  further  reason  for  wielding  his  shining  critical 
weai)ons  against  Philistines  or  fools".     (A.  W.  Ambros). 

From  1839  to  1849  he  produced  the  following  compositions,  to 
be  numbered  among  his  chief  works:  Quintet  for  Pianoforte,  2  Vio- 
lins, Viola,  and  Violoncello,  in  E\}^  op.  44,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  dedi- 
cated to  Clara  Schumann;  Andante  and  Variations  for  2  Pianofortes, 
in  J>>,  op.  46,  ditto;  Quartet  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  Viola,  and  Violon- 
cello, op.  47,  in  £"[?;  Studies  and  Sketches  for  the  Pedal-Pianoforte 
in  canon- form,  op.  56  and  58,  Leipzig,  F.  Whistling;  6  Fugues  on 
the  name  of  Bach,  op.  60,  Leipzig,  Gustav  Heinze;  Trio  for  Piano- 
forte, Violin,  and  Violoncello,  op.  63  in  />-minor,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel; 


—     163     — 

Album  fur  die  Jugend,  55  Piano-pieces  for  Small  or  Grown  Players, 
op.  68,  Leipzig-,  J.  Scliubertli  &  Co.;  Adagio  and  Allegro  for  Piano- 
forte and  Horn,  op.  70,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  4  Fugues,  dedicated  to 
Carl  Reinecke,  op.  72,  Leipzig,  Whistling;  Fanfasiesfi'icJce  for  Piano- 
forte and  Clarinet,  op.  73,  Cassel,  Luckhard;  and  fonr  Marclics  dated 
1849,  op.  76,  Leipzig,  Whistling,  which  are  eminently  noteworthy  as 
fiery,  forceful,  and  sonorous  pianoforte  pieces. 

In  the  year  1843  the  Conservatory  of  Music  at  Leipzig  was 
founded,  and  the  direction  of  the  same  entrusted  to  Mendelssohn. 
At  the  instance  of  the  latter,  his  friend  Schumann  accepted  a  position 
in  that  institution  as  teacher;  but  on  Mendelssohn's  departure  for 
Berlin  in  the  ensuing  year,  Schumann  also  left  Leipzig,  settling  at 
first  in  Dresden,  and  making  a  professional  journey  in  1847  to  Prague 
and  Vienna.  The  post  of  Tow^n  Music  Director  at  Diisseldorf,  which 
he  assumed  in  1850,  was  given  up  by  him  in  1853,  he  then  mak- 
ing a  journey  to  Holland  with  his  Clara,  where  they  "were  wel- 
comed with  joy,  yes,  with  honors",  and  he  "saw  with  surprise,  that 
his  music  was  almost  better  known  in  Holland  than  in  the  Father- 
land". From  1854  symptoms,  sometimes  noticeable  even  earlier,  of 
a  disease  affecting  his  brain,  grew  more  and  more  alarming;  on  the 
29  th  of  July,  1856,  death  put  an  end  to  the  sufferings  caused  by  the 
disorder.  He  rests  in  the  cemetery  outside  the  Sternthor  of  Bonn. 
Ferdinand  Hiller  said  of  him:  "With  a  golden  sceptre  thou  reignedst 
over  a  lordly  realm  of  harmonies,  and  wroughtst  therein  mth  a 
strong  and  free  hand.  And  many  of  the  best  follow^ed  thee,  gave 
themselves  up  to  thee,  inspired  thee  by  their  enthusiasm,  and  rewarded 
thee  by  faithful  love". 

To  his  last  period  belong  the  following  Pianoforte  Works:  Trio 
for  Pianofoite,  Violin,  and  Violoncello,  op.  80  in  F,  Leipzig,  J.  Scliu- 
bertli &  Co.;  Waldscenen,  9  Piano-pieces,  op.  82,  Leipzig,  Seulf; 
12  Piano-pieces  for  4  hands,  for  great  and  small  children,  op.  85, 
Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  FantasiestiicTce  for  Pianoforte,  Violin, 
and  Violoncello,  op.  88,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  ConcertstiicJc  with  acconip. 
of  Orchestra,  Introduction  and  Allegro  appassionato,  op.  92,  Brcit- 
kopf  &  Hartel;  Bunte  Blatter,  14  Pieces  for  the  Pianoforte,  op.  99, 
Elberfeld,  F.  W.  Arnold;  two  grand  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  and 
Violin,  op.  105  and  121,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister,  also  Breitkopf  &  Hartel; 
Ballscenen,  9  characteristic  Pieces  for  4  hands,  op.  109,  J.  Schuberth 
&  Co.;  third  Trio  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello,  in  (r-miuor, 
op.  110,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  3  Fantasiestiicle,  op.  Ill,  Leipzig,  Peters; 

II* 


-     164     - 

MdrchvnhiJdcr,  4  Pieces  for  Pianoforte,  and  Violin  dedicated  to  his 
subsequent  biographer  J.  v.  Wasielewski,  op.  113,  Cassel,  Luck  ha  d; 
5  Claviersonaten  fur  die  Jugend,  op.  118,  Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.; 
AlbiimUdtter,  20  Piano-pieces,  op.  124,  Elberfekl,  Arnold;  7  Piano- 
pieces  in  fughetta-form,  op.  126,  ditto;  Kindcrhall,  6  Easy  Dance- 
pieces  for  4  hands,  Breitkoi)f  &  Hartel;  Mdrclienerzdhhmgcyi,  4  Pieces 
for  Clarinet,  Viola,  and  Pianoforte,  op.  132,  ditto;  Gcsdnge  der  Friilie, 
5  Pieces  for  Pianoforte,  dedicated  to  the  lofty  poetess  Bettina,  op.  133, 
Elberfekl,  Arnold;  and  finally  Concert -Allegro  with  Introduction,  for 
Pianoforte  with  orchestral  accomp.,  in  D-rainor,  dedicated  to  Johannes 
Brahms,  op.  134,  Leipzig,  B.  Senflf. 

After  the  expiration  of  the  legal  thirty-years'  term  of  copyright, 
a  Complete  Edition  of  Robert  Schumann's  works  Avas  published  by 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  under  the  supervision  of  the  deceased  composer's 
wife,  Frau  Dr.  Clara  Schumann.  Earlier  issues  of  the  Pianoforte 
Works  had  been  edited  by  Nicolas  Rubinstein  (Moscow,  Jurgensen), 
this  one  being  quite  useless  on  account  of  incorrect  readings;  also 
by  Dr.  Hans  Bischoff  (Hanover,  Steingraber) ,  and  Dr.  0,  Neitzel 
(Cologne,  P.  Tonger).  While  Frau  Schumann  has  carried  the  reve- 
rence for  her  dead  husband's  name  so  far,  as  to  leave  standing 
mistakes  evidently  overseen  hj  Schumann  or  erroneous  corrections 
by  "Des"  (Fr.  Wieck),  Bischoff  and  Neitzel,  by  bringing  to  bear  all 
their  philological  acumen  and  noteworthy  pedagogical  experiQ.nce, 
have  done  in  part  faultless  work  both  in  critical  revision  and  for 
the  study  of  the  works  in  technical  and  iesthetical  regard. 

In  Schumann's  character  were  blended  seriousness  and  humor, 
profundity  and  naivete,  roughness  and  good  nature,  in  a  striking 
manner.  His  compositions,  so  teeming  with  sharp  contrasts,  did  not 
therefore  become  more  generally  understood  and  appreciated  until 
after  his  death,  even  in  Germany,  whereas  they  can  hardly  ever 
find  favor  in  France  and  Italy.  Moreover,  Schumann  often  requires 
for  the  execution  of  his  pieces  the  entire  skill  of  a  virtuoso,  without 
setting  that  skill  in  a  brilliant  light.  The  Virtuoso  should  not  find 
his  reward  as  such,  but  as  the  interpreter  of  the  art-work  to  which 
he  gives  life.  Schumann's  pianoforte  stj^le  is  consequently  more  akin 
to  Beethoven's  last  great  pianoforte  works,  than  to  the  salon  and 
concert  compositions  produced  by  the  school  of  Hummel  or  Moscheles. 
The  more  intimately  we  become  acquainted  with  such  a  richly  gifted 
nature,  the  more  attractive  do  we  find  intercourse  with  it;  but  the  imita- 
tors of  such  a  peculiar  style,  so  closely  knit  with  the  inmost  fibres  of  its 


—     1G5     — 

author,  fail  to  move  us,  whereas  epigones  like  Mendelssohn,  wlio 
follow  no  untried  path,  but  rather  one  already  trodden  smooth,  mav 
command  our  respect,  or  even  our  love. 

Respecting  his  life  and  labors  we  have  the  following:  Robert 
►Schumann,  A  Biography,  by  J.  W.  V.  Wasielewski.  Dresden. 
Kuntze,  1858.  —  Robert  Schumann,  Life  and  Works,  by  AUGUST 
Reissmann.  Berlin,  Guttentag,  1865.  —  Collections  of  Letters,  and 
also  a  work  entitled  "Davidsbimdler",  by  Jansen,  have  recently  been 
published  by  Breitkopf  &  Hilrtel. 

After  Schumann's  death  a  party  formed,  which  designated  him 
as  the  climax  of  the  "neo-romautic  music",  and  disallowed  all  further 
progress  in  this  direction.  The  disciples  of  the  "neo -German  school" 
on  the  contrary,  who  chose  Franz  Liszt  as  their  leader,  held  any 
and  every  innovation  and  reformation  of  musical  art-forms  for  justi- 
fiable. A  third,  the  so-called  "classical  party",  despised  all  music 
claiming  originality  subsequent  to  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven,  and 
sought,  like  Chinese  reformers,  to  push  us  back  into  'the  good  old 
times". 

But  in  the  realm  of  the  liberal  arts  the  rule  of  a  one-sided  and 
narrow  law-giver  can  never  be  of  long  duration,  and  in  music,  too, 
the  parties  so  struggling  for  sole  mastery  have  long  since  been  rightly 
consigned  to  oblivion.  For  the  unprejudiced  musician,  acquainted 
with  the  beginnings  and  the  growth  of  his  art,  regards  with  due 
respect  not  only  the  illustrious  masters  of  earlier  and  more  recent 
times,  but  likewise  those  of  to-day,  who  are  striving  by  word  and 
deed  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  their  art,  and  thus  to  promote  its 
theoretical  progress. 

Schumann's  Successors. 

We  find,  advancing  on  the  paths  opened  by  Schumann,  several 
meritorious  composers,  who  sought  foremostly  to  assimilate  his 
style  of  developing  given  motives  of  an  interesting  type.  Among 
these  is  Woldemar  Bargiel  (b.  1828),  since  1874  teacher  of  compo- 
sition at  the  Royal  HocJischuJe  fur  Musili  at  Berlin,  who  has  published 
a  number  of  serious  and  dignified  pianoforte  works,  including  the 
following:  Fantasia  for  Pianoforte,  dedicated  to  his  sister  Clara 
Schumann,  op.  5,  Elberfeld,  Arnold;  Trio  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and 
Violoncello,  dedicated  to  Robert  Schumann,  op.  6,  Breslau,  Leu- 
ckart;    Suite  for  Pianoforte,  for  4  hands,  op.  7,  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel; 


—     166     — 

16  Pianoforte  Pieces,  op.  34,  and  op.  41  (ditto);  Third  Trio  for 
Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello,  op.  37  (ditto);  Fantasia,  dedicated 
to  Joliannes  Bralims,  op.  19,  Breslau,  Leuckart. — Theodop  Kirchner 
(b.  1824)  g-reets  us  breezily  and  spiritedly  in  his  compositions  for 
the  pianoforte,  which,  though  for  the  most  part  set  in  the  smaller 
forms,  are  always  refreshingly  attractive  in  their  unconstrained  naivete. 
In  Leipzig  there  have  been  published  by  J.  Rieter-Biedermann:  op.  9, 
two  books  of  Preludes;  op.  13,  Songs  tvitJiout  Words;  op.  14,  Fan- 
tasicstiichc,  3  books;  op.  24,  Still  und  heicegt,  Piano-pieces,  2  books; 
op.  33,  Ideale; — by  Fr.  Hofmeister:  op.  32,  Aus  triihen  Tagen,  2  books; 
op.  26,  Album;  op,  27,  Caprices,  2  books;  op.  28,  Notturnos;  op.  29, 
Aus  meinem  SMzsoibuche,  2  books;  op.  30,  Studies  and  Pieces, 
4  books;  op.  31,  Im  Zivieliclit,  Songs  and  Dances,  4  books; — by 
Bartholf  Senff:  op.  5,  Gruss  an  nieine  Freunde;  op.  16,  Kleine  Lust- 
imd  Trauerspiele ,  3  books.— Johannes  Brahms,  the  most  eminent  of 
those  following  Schumann's  track,  has  risen  step  by  step  to  be  one 
of  the  first  composers  of  the  present  day,  and  will  be  separately 
noticed  hereafter. 

Below  we  add  a  few  composers,  who  endeavor  to  keep  their 
pianoforte  works  free  from  commonplaces,  and  who  have  often  suc- 
ceeded in  developing  their  subjects  in  a  stimulating  and  entertaining 
manner.  Carl  Gradener  (1812 — 1883)  dedicated  to  Hans  v.  Bttlow 
a  Trio  in  E  for  Pianoforte,  Violin  and  Violoncello  (Hamburg,  Fritz 
Schubeith),  which  has  everywhere  met  with  a  favorable  reception; 
his  brilliantly  colored  character  pieces  ^'Fliegende  Pliittchen"  for  the 
Pianoforte  (op.  24,  27,  31,  33,  and  43,  same  publ.)  also  enjoy  great 
popularity,  especially  in  his  residence,  Hamburg.  —  Friedrich  Robert 
Volkmann  (1815 — 1883),  also  first  attracted  attention  by  a  Trio  for 
Pianoforte,  Violin,  and  Violoncello  in  jBi;-minor,  op.  5,  which,  though 
l)lanned  in  Schumann's  spirit,  immediately  stamped  him  as  an  original 
composer  of  teeming  fancy.  His  Pianoforte  WorJcs  without  accom- 
l)animent  are  also  full  of  inspired  touches,  as,  among  many  others, 
the  Buck  der  Lieder,  op.  17,  three  books  (Spina  in  Vienna);  Cava- 
tina  and  Barcarole,  op.  19;  12  musical  poems  in  "Visegrad",  op.  21; 
Ungarische  Sldszen,  op.  24;  and  above  all  the  ^'■Musihalisches  Bilder- 
bucJi",  op.  11,  2  books  (Fr.  Kistner,  Leipzig),  and  the  "Tages^citen", 
op.  39,  both  works  for  4  hands.— Finally,  the  Belgian  Cesar  Augusta 
Franck  (b.  1822),  who  was  trained  in  the  Paris  Conservatory  of 
Music,  came  forward  in  his  op.  1  with  3  Pianoforte  Trios  in  i^jf, 
^1?,  and  i?- minor  (Leipzig,   J.  Schuberth  &  Co.,  in  score  and  parts), 


—     107     — 

folUiwed  by  a  fourth  in  i?-major  as  op.  2  (ditto),  all  of  which  exhibit 
such  an  individual  and  attractive  color  it,  that  they  made  a  stir  not  only 
in  Paris— where  their  author  established  himself  as  a  highly  esteemed 
teacher,  being  at  present  organist  of  the  church  of  St.  Clothilde — 
but  in  Germany  as  well,  and  despite  their  difficulty  have  been  much 
played  and  discussed.  These  are  compositions  born  of  hours  of  self- 
consecration  and  true  inspiration,  for  which  we  could  only  desire  the 
finishing  touch  of  the  master-hand.  Then  followed,  for  Pianoforte 
solo,  op.  3,  ^gloguc;  op.  4,  Duo  for  4  hands  on  "God  save  the  King"; 
op.  7,  Souvenir  d' Aix-la-Chapelle  (Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.);  and 
1  Sonata  (Paris  chez  I'auteur). 

Charles  Valentin  Alkan,  born  at  Paris  in  1813,  and  known 
there  under  the  name  of  Alkan  Vahie,  was  taught,  like  the  musician 
last  mentioned,  by  the  meritorious  teacher  of  the  pianoforte  and  com- 
position P.  J.  W.  Zimmermann  (1785—1853)  in  the  Conservatory  at 
Paris,  and  is  more  at  home  in  his  study  than  in  the  world  of  fashion. 
He  has  written  a  series  of  Pianoforte  Works,  whose  originality  and 
wealth  of  invention  is  as  surprising  as  the  boldness  of  their  harmonies 
and  modulations.  Of  his  romantic  compositions,  which  "have  not  yet 
met  with  the  attention  on  the  part  of  pianoforte  virtuosi  which  they 
merit",  and  which  he  himself  performs  in  a  peculiarly  free  style,  we 
note  the  following:  35  PreUides,  op.  31  (Berlin,  Schlesinger),  which, 
from  their  comparatively  easy  style,  their  diversified  and  interesting 
conception,  and  even  their  astounding  parallel  fifths  and  octaves  are 
especially  suited  for  gaining  acquaintance  with  this  gifted  composer; 
further,  op.  32,  VAmitie;  op.  26,  Fantasietta  alia  Moresca;  op.  31, 
Preludes,  3  books;  and  op.  46,  Minuctto  alia  tedesca,  all  publ.  by 
Schlesinger;— i5  Etudes  in  all  major  keys,  2  suites,  Bote  &  Bock;— 
op.  17,  Le  Prcux,  Etude  de  Concert;  op.  27,  Le  cliemin  de  fer;  op.  29, 
Bourn'e  d'Auvergne;  op.  22,  Nocturne;  and  op.  23,  Saltarelle,  publ. 
by  B.  Schott's  Sohne  of  Mainz;  —  op.  15,  Trois  grandes  jSfudes  dans 
le  genre  pathetique;  op.  16,  Six  morceaux  caracteristiques,  2  FugJie 
di  camera,  Jean  qui  rit  et  Jean  qui  pleure;  and  Trois  grandes 
£tudes  pour  la  main  gauche  seule,  pour  la  main  droite  seule,  et  pour 
deux  mains,  publ.  by  Fr.  Hofmeister,  Leipzig. 


168 


Contemporaries  of  Mendelssohn,  Chopin,  and 
Schumann. 

While  the  above   successors  of  Schumann  presented  us  chiefly 
wth  long  and  serious  works,  often  pervaded  with  WeltscJimers  (sple- 
netic melancholy),   other  gifted   composers,   like   Theodor  Kirchner, 
followed  in  the  more  flowery  paths  taken  by  Chopin  and  Mendels- 
sohn,   and  brought   us   offerings    of   cheerful    character -pieces    and 
Novellettes,  whose  worth  should  by  no  means  be  underrated  in  com- 
parison with  grander  compositions.     The  published  pianoforte  works 
of  Gustav  Fliigel  (b.  1812,  since  1857  ScMossorganist  at  Stettin)  are 
full  of  romantically  poetical,   thoughtful   musical  motives,   and  are 
therefore  well  worthy  of  notice.     We  mention  op.  25,   4  Fantasie- 
stiicJce  (Schlesinger);    op,  17,  Tagf alter,  and  op.  14  and  24,  Nacht- 
f alter  (Fr.  Hofmeister);  op.  18,  Mondscheinbilder ;  op.  40,  Volhspoesien; 
op,  44,  HmnoresJce;   and  the  Sonatas  No.  2  and  No.  5  (Breitkopf  & 
Hartel).— Stephen  Heller  (b.  1815  in  Pesth,  d.  1888),  who  lived  from 
1838  in  Paris,  wrote  a  great  number  of  works  in  the  purest  piano- 
forte style,   which  have  justly  attained  to  universal   favor  thi-ough 
their    graceful    melodic    flow   and  ingenious    technique.     Liszt   first 
called  the  attention  of  the  musical   world   to   this   richly   endowed 
composer,   by  performing  in  public   his  ballade-like,   brilliant  piece 
-'La  chasse"  (op.  29,  Schlesinger).     Other  of  Heller's  pianoforte  works 
published  by  the  same   are:    J^tudes  progressives,   op.  47,  46,  45; 
Bliimen-,.  Friccht-  und  DornenstucJce,  op.  82,  in  3  Parts,  peculiarly 
distinguished  by  their  poetical  conception  and  their  exquisite  work- 
manship;—  op.  79,  Traumhilder,  and  op.  92,  three  books  of  Eglogen 
(Bote  &  Bock);  —  op.  78,    Spaziergange   eines   Einsamen,    5   books; 
op.  96,    Grande  £tnde;    and  op.  119,  AlbumUdtter ;  —by  B.  Schott's 
Sohne,  4  Fantasiestucke,  op,  99,  in  2  books;    3  Bergeries,  op.  106; 
4  Ldndler.^  op,  107;  Sclterzo,  op.  108;  Herhsthldtter,  op.  109;  JBallet- 
stiicke,   op.  Ill;    Caprice  Immoristique ,   op,  112;    Fantaisie- Caprice, 
op.  113;    Preludes,   Scenes  d'enfants  and  Presto  scJierzoso,   op.  114; 
Trois   Ballades,   op.  115;    IJeux   Etudes,   op.  116;     Trois   Preludes^ 
op.  117;   and  Varictes,  Boutade,  Feuillet  d' Album  et  Air  de  Ballet, 
op.  118.— The  eminent  pianoforte  virtuoso  Jacob  Rosenhain  (b,  1813 
at  Mannheim)  has  become  widely  Imown  and  popular  through  various 
pianoforte   works.     Among    these    there    have    been    published,    by 
B.  Schott's  Sohne:    Grand  Trio   pour  Piano,  Violon   et  Violoncelle, 


—     169     — 

op.  33,  and  another,  op.  50;  Grand  Caprice  hrillant,  op.  23;  Ro- 
mances sans  paroles,  op.  25,  31,  and  37;  Polha  de  concert,  op.  36; 
CJiaractcrstiicJce  (Spanish,  Polish,  Oriental,  etc.),  op.  25,  31,  and  37; 
Variations  Immoresqiies  sur  le  Carneval  de  Venise,  op.  46;— by  Fr. 
[lofmeister:  12  Mudes  caracteristiqiies,  op.  17,  and  1  Concertino  avee 
quatuor,  op.  30; — by  Peters:  Sonata,  op.  44,  and  2  Morceaux  de 
Goncours,  op.  39. — Louis  Trouillon-Lacombe  (b.  1818  in  Bourges, 
d.  1884  in  St.  Vaast-la-Hongue)  was  much  esteemed  in  Paris  as  a 
pianist  and  composer  of  pleasing  piano-pieces,  such  as  the  jStude  en 
Octaves,  op.  40,  B.  Sehott's  S6lm^\  Chorale,  grande  Etude  de  concert, 
op.  45  (ditto);  also  Les  Harmonies  de  la  Nature,  Deux  Nocturnes, 
Marclie  turqiie,  etc.  [Among  his  compositions  a  Pianoforte  Quintet 
n-iid  two  Trios  deserve  special  mention.     0.  L.] 

John  Field  was  perhaps  the  fii-st  to  present  us,  in  his  Nocturnes, 
with  Stimnmngsbilder  (mood -pictures)  of  the  smaller  kind,  whose 
atti'active  naturalness  delighted  even  the  Parisians,  blase  though  they 
were  with  the  then  epoch-making  virtuosity.  Frederic  Chopin  heard 
him  in  Paris  in  1832,  and  to  these  simple  pieces  we  owe  in  great 
part  the  latter's  six  books  of  Nocturnes,  with  their  more  diversified 
character  and  livelier  colors.  The  Mazurkas,  too,  that  mirror  his 
nation  in  all  their  sufferings  and  joys,  and  also  many  of  his  Preludes, 
belong  to  the  heart-felt  and  therefore  warmly  sympathetic  Stimmungs- 
hilder.  The  purely  lyrical  Songs  without  Words  of  his  contemporary 
Mendelssohn  followed  the  Fantasiestticke,  Novelletten,  and  Nacht- 
stticke  of  Sehumann,  which  are  apt  to  trespass,  however,  upon  the 
epic  and  dramatic  field  of  art.  Besides  the  composers  already  named 
in  this  section,  Franz  Liszt,  in  particular,  has  poured  out  from  his 
glowing  heart  lyric  and  epic  poems  in  his  Annees  de  pelerinage,  the 
Apparitions,  Consolations,  Harmonies  poetiques,  and  RJiapsodies  hon- 
groises.  But  this  unexcelled  master  not  only  ushered  in  the  present 
brilliant  era  of  pianoforte -playing  through  his  original  compositions 
and  intei-pretations;  he  also  was  enabled  to  spread  and  maintain  the 
same  through  numerous  pupils.  Of  these  we  will  mention  here  Franz 
Bendel  (1833 — 1874)  as  the  author  of  several  pregnant  Stimmungs- 
hilder.  A  few  of  these  are  accompanied  by  short  programs,  a 
feature  frequently  decried  by  many  writers.  But  when  after 
expunging  such  programs,  which  attribute  definite  ideas  or  definite 
feelings  to  the  tones,  intelligible  music  is  left  behind,  as  in  this  case, 
the  latter  can  lose  none  of  its  value  through  the  progi-am.  Any 
truly  significant  music  whatever  is  interpreted  by  each  listener  in  a 


—     170     — 

manner  most  conformable  to  his  character,  his  memories,  hopes,  and 
fears;  in  its  tones  he  hears  the  mystic  revelations  and  prophecies 
of  an  inspired  singer.  In  4  books  of  "Sclnvei^er  Bilder",  op.  137 
(Berlin,  Carl  Paez),  and  6  books  "Am  Gcnfer  See",  op.  139,  Bendel 
portrays  the  impressions  of  his  journeyings  in  the  fresh  air  of  the 
yalleys  and  heights  of  Switzerland;  and  in  the  '^ Seeks  deufsche 
MdrcJmih'ldcr'  (op.  135,  Hamburg,  Hugo  Pohle),  illustrated  with  more 
striking  colors,  the  dream -like,  weird,  and  bizarre  scenes  of  these 
Fantasiestuclxe  pass  before  our  inner  vision  with  dramatic  animation. 


Musical  Review  at  the  Present  Time. 

We  begin  with  a  survey  of  the  most  prominent  Conservatories 
and  Schools  of  IVIusic  in  which  special  attention  is  paid  to  piano- 
forte-playing. The  flourishing  Royal  Conservatory  of  Music  at  Leipzig 
was  founded  in  1843  by  Mendelssohn;  in  this  institution  pianoforte- 
plajing  and  composition  have  been  fostered  from  the  start.  The 
former  branch  is  at  present  represented  by  Carl  Eeinecke,  noted  as 
an  eminent  virtuoso  and  composer;  S.  Jadassohn,  pianist  and  com- 
poser; Oscar  Paul,  author  of  a  noteworthy  History  of  the  Pianoforte 
and  many  other  musical  works;  E.  C.  Papperitz;  C.  Piutti,  organ 
virtuoso  and  composer;  A.  Richter;  and  several  other  pianists.'''  The 
Leipzig  Conservatory  adheres  to  its  traditional  methods,  and  has  by 
consequence  fallen  in  the  scale  of  musical  importance,  or  at  least 
not  risen.  The  exclusive  tendency  observable  at  this  institution, 
represented  as  following  the  artistic  traditions  of  Mendelssohn,  but 
which  is  in  fact  unfriendly  to  the  spirit  of  modern  pianoforte-playing 
and  to  the  modern  development  of  music  altogether,  has  notably 
strained  the  earlier  relations  of  this  once  justly  renowned  school  to 
tlie  general  musical  life  of  the  world,  and  in  many  cases  quite  dis- 
solved them.  Of  the  old  Masters,  to  whose  co-operation  the  former 
fame  of  the  conservatory  was  due,  but  few  are  left.  E.  F.  Wenzel, 
born  on  Jan.  25,  1808,  at  Walddorf  in  Saxony,  died  Aug.  16,  1880, 
in  Bad  Kosen;  Louis  Plaidy,  born  Nov.  28,  1810,  at  Hubertusburg, 
died  on  March  3,  1874,  in  Grimma;  Ignaz  Moscheles,  born  May  30, 
1794,  at  Prague,  died  March  10,   1870,  in  Leipzig;    Moritz  Haurtt- 


*  The  remainder  of  this  survey  of  the  Music-schools  is  by  the  editor  of 
he  second  German  edition,   Herr  Otto  Lessmann.  Transl.  Note. 


—     171      — 

maun,  bora  Oct.  13,  1792  at  Dresden,  died  on  Jan.  3,  1868,  in 
Leipzig;  and  altliongh  their  places  as  teachers  of  pianoforte-playing 
have  been  taken  by  younger  men,  the  latter  are  nevertheless  obliged 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  prevailing  conservative  spirit.  That 
the  regular  academical  course  is  still  conscientiously  taught,  is  proved 
by  the  annual  examinations  (Frufungen)  and  hereby  the  Conservatory 
fulfils  its  mission  to  a  certain  extent.  But  whether  it  is  right  to 
narrow  the  intellectual  horizon  of  the  pupils  in  opposition  to  the 
spirit  of  the  times,  is  a  question  hardly  requiring  serious  consideration. 
— In  essential  points,  like  praise  and  like  blame  are  to  be  bestowed 
upon  a  much  younger  institution,  the  Berlin  Boijal  Hoclischdc  fiir 
ausiihende  TonJcunst.  The  blind  hatred  with  which  prominent  re- 
presentatives of  this  institution  denounce  the  entire  modern  develop- 
ment of  music  and  its  promotors  and  abettors,  is  but  ill-suited  to  a 
school  of  art  founded  and  maintained  by  the  State.  Happily,  no 
monopoly  in  art  can  be  enduringly  upheld,  neither  can  any  institute, 
however  richly  endowed,  check  the  steady  march  of  events.  In  this 
academy  the  chief  teachers  of  the  pianoforte  are  Profs.  Ernst  Rudorff 
and  Heinrich  Barth. — The  Conservatory  at  Cologne,  since  the  decease 
of  its  former  Director  Ferdinand  von  Hiller  (b.  Oct.  24,  1811,  at 
Frankfort,  d.  May  11,  1885,  at  Cologne),  has  prospered  markedly 
under  the  management  of  Franz  Wtillner  (b.  Jan.  28,  1832,  at 
Miinster  in  Westphalia).  Instruction  in  pianoforte-playing  has  hitherto 
been  in  the  hands  of  men  like  Prof.  Ignaz  Seiss,  Prof.  E.  Mertke, 
Dr.  Otto  Neitzel,  etc. —  The  Neiie  Akademie  der  Tonhinst  (New  Acad, 
of  Music)  was  founded  in  1855  by  Th.  Kullak  (b.  Sept.  12,  1818  at 
Krotoschin  in  Posen,  d.  March  1,  1882,  in  Berlin),  and  celebrated  its 
25th  anniversary  in  1880  with  100  teachers  and  1000  pupils;  since 
its  founder's  death  it  has  been  carried  on  by  his  son  Franz. — The 
Conservatory  founded  in  18^0  by  Julius  Stern  is  continued  since  his 
death  (1883)  under  the  artistic  direction  of  Prof.  Robt.  Radecke; 
Profs.  Heinrich  Ehrlich  and  Ernst  Franck  are  engaged  as  first  teachers 
of  the  pianoforte,  a  position  held  by  Prof.  Franz  Mannstadt  until  his 
removal  to  "Wiesbaden.  —  The  soil  of  Berlin  has  proved  peculiarly 
favorable  to  the  growth  of  music-schools;  whether  real  service  is 
rendered  to  art  by  such  wholesale  fabrication  of  pianists,  is  a  thesis 
hard  to  maintain.  —  Among  the  numerous  pianoforte  schools  opened 
in  Berlin  during  the  last  decade,  only  two  can  lay  claim  to  artistic 
significance  in  a  wider  sense.  These  are  the  Conservatory  of  Music 
of  Prof.  Xaver  Scharwenka  (b,  Jan.  6,  1850,  at  Samter  in  Posen, 


—     172     — 

and  a  pupil  of  Kullak  and  Wiierst),  and  the  "Classes  in  advanced 
Pianoforte -pJayinf^"  led  by  Karl  Klind worth  (b.  Sept.  25,  1830,  in 
Hanover,  a  pupil  of  Liszt).  Klindwortli  has  won  a  name  less  through 
public  pianoforte  recitals  and  orig-inal  compositions  (as  Pianoforte 
Concerto,  Pieces,  and  Songs),  than  by  his  editions  of  Chopin's  Piano- 
forte Works,  Beethoven's  Sonatas,  and  the  masterly  Pianoforte 
Arrangements  of  "Wagner's  Nibelungen-Tetralogie,  and  also  by  his 
eminent  talent  as  a  conductor.  From  1854  to  1868  Klindvrorth 
lived  as  teacher,  pianist,  and  conductor  in  London,  1868 — 1884  in 
Moscow,  in  which  latter  year  he  came  to  Berlin,  taught  at  first  in 
Kullak's  Academy,  and  in  the  year  1885  opened  his  pianoforte 
classes,  which  were  led  by  Moritz  Moszkowski  in  the  winter  of 
1887/88,  during  Klindworth's  absence  in  America. — Amoug  the  Xorth 
German  Conservatories  of  good  repute  we  mention  that  at  Dresden 
(Dir.  Pudor  died  Oct.  9,  1887),  at  Hamburg  (Dir.  v.  Bernuth),  at 
Dresden  likewise  the  Bollfuss  Academy  for  Ladies,  also  the  Grand- 
dueal  MiisiJcscliide  at  Weimar  (Dir,  Prof.  Miiller-Hartung),  and  the 
Conservatory  at  Sondersliausen  (Dir.  Ad.  Schulze).  In  South  Germany 
there  are  flourishing  at  present  the  Conservatory  at  Stuttgart,  which 
has,  to  be  sure,  lost  two  of  its  most  eminent  teachers,  Siegmund 
Lebert  (Levy),  b.  Dec.  12,  1822,  in  Ludwigsburg,  d.  Dec.  8,  1884, 
in  Stuttgart,— and  Ludwig  Stark,  b.  June  19,  1831,  d.  March  22. 
1884;  the  Boyal  MitsiJcscJmle  at  Municli,  established  by  Hans  v. 
Billow  at  the  instance  of  King  Ludwig  IL;  the  Boyal  MusiTisclnde 
at  WiXrsljurg  under  the  management  of  Dr.  Kliebert;  Dr.  Hoch's 
Conservatory  at  FranJcfort  (Dir.  Prof.  Bernhard  Scholz),  first  instruc- 
tress of  the  pianoforte  Fran  Clara  Schumann;  also  in  the  last-named 
city  the  Baff  Conservatory,  at  whose  head  stands,  as  first  teacher  of 
the  pianoforte,  Max  Schwarz  (a  pupil  of  Bendel  and  Billow),  and  in 
which  Hans  v.  Billow  himself,  as  honorary  President,  gives  courses 
in  rendering  during  one  month  in  each  year. 

Among  non-German  institutions,  the  Conservatory  of  the  Gesell- 
scJiaft  der  Musihfreunde  and  the  HoraJc  Claviersclmle  at  Vienna  enjoy 
a  high  reputation;  in  St.  Pctershurg  we  find  the  Imperial  Conserva- 
tory, whose  management  since  Davidoff's  retirement  has  been  resumed 
by  Anton  Rubinstein,  its  founder;  in  Brussels  the  Conservatory  under 
Dupont's  direction;  in  Paris  the  long-renowned  Conservatory;  in 
Pesth  the  National  Music  Academy,  whose  president  was  Franz  Liszt, 
and  the  Conservatory;  in  Helsingfors  the  Musihschide  (Dir.  Wegelius), 
serving  as  a  point  d'appui  for  German  music  in  Finland. — In  London 


—     173     — 

flourishes  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  for  which  in  honor  of  Liszt's 
last  visit  to  London  a  Liszt  scholarship  was  founded,  affording  to 
talented  and  industrious  students  means  for  a  stay  of  several  years 
in  Germany  and  other  countries.  (For  American  Conservatories  see 
Appendix.) 

The  above  institutions  all  owe  their  establishment  to  the  praise- 
worthy endeavor  to  provide  places  for  the  earnest  cultivation  of  art, 
and  so  long  as  this  aim  is  kept  in  view,  well-founded  arguments  can 
hardly  be  brought  forward  against  their  continuance.  But  opinion  on 
the  value  of  music  schools  undergoes  a  change  when  one  perceives, 
that  the  moving  cause  for  opening  such  is  in  great  part  only  base 
speculation  on  the  ignorance  of  the  great  public,  which  unhappily 
follows  the  fashionable  craze  for  playing  the  piano  regardless  of 
concomitant  circumstances.  Pianoforte-playing,  once  the  hard-won  art 
of  musically  gifted  individuals,  has  become  a  public  calamity — indeed, 
it  is  openly  and  aptly  termed  the  piano-nuisance  —  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  blame  for  the  mischief  must  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  those  music  schools,  which  are  conducted  by  mediocre  or 
yet  worse  musidans  and  teachers,  and  in  which  too  frequently 
wretched  bunglers  give  cheap  instruction,  thus  doing  their  best  to 
lower  the  level  of  pianoforte -playing  in  particular  and  of  artistic 
taste  in  general. 

In  must  be  admitted,  on  the  other  hand,  that  piaaoforte-playing, 
as  a  really  artistic  manifestation,  has  on  the  whole  won  a  far 
broader  basis  than  formerly.  Dilettanti  of  true  artistic  taste  are  no 
longer  a  rarity,  and  the  demands  of  the  public  upon  pianists  now 
appearing  have  decidedly  risen.  Mere  virtuosity  now  leads  but  a 
sorry  life,  since  public  taste  has  begun  to  require  of  artists  to  provide 
programs  containing  works  of  intellectual  worth,  for  whose  inter- 
pretation mental  power,  and  not  mere  external  finger- technique,  is 
needed.  The  most  astounding  programs  have  been  furnished  by  the 
two  Past  Masters  of  Pianoforte -playing,  Hans  v.  Billow  and  Anton 
Rubinstein,  the  former  having  first  confronted  the  public  with  the  five 
last  Sonatas  by  Beethoven,  while  the  latter,  in  a  cyclus  embracing 
seven  evenings,  gave  a  review,  though  a  hasty  one,  of  the  historical 
evolution  of  pianoforte-playing.  Biilow  then  followed  with  cycles  of 
four  evenings,  in  which,  by  a  series  of  sonatas,  variations,  and  other 
works,  he  reproduced  the  development  of  Beethoven's  pianoforte 
style  before  the  astonished  audience.  Hans  v.  Bulow  has  embalmed 
the   fruits   of  his   art -studies  and  experience   in   an  edition  of  the 


—     174     — 

Sonatas,  Variations,  and  other  Pianoforte  Works  by  Beethoven  from 
op.  53  on  (Stuttgart,  Cotta),  which  according  to  Liszt's  dictum  excel, 
by  reason  of  their  extraordinary  wealth  of  pedagogical  and  aesthetical 
material,  a  dozen  conservatories  in  instructiveness;  furthermore,  in 
a  series  of  pianoforte  works  by  Bach,  Scarlatti,  Haydn,  Field, 
Handel,  Schubert,  Mendelssohn,  Weber,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven  again 
(earlier  Sonatas  op.  27,  II;  op.  20;  op.  13;  op.  31,  IE;  32  Variations 
in  C- minor)  published  in  Munich  by  Aibl  under  the  general  title  of 
"Aus  den  Concertprogrammen  von  Hans  v.  JBiUotv";  a  Selection  by 
Billow  of  Chopin's  and  above  all  Ci-amer's  Etudes  also  merits  mention 
here  on  account  of  its  high  pedagogic  value. 

Besides  the  Music  Schools  already  noticed,  others  are  found  in 
nearly  all  considerable  German  towns,  and  the  teachers  engaged  in 
the  same  are  everywhere  supplemented  by  pianists  and  composers 
whose  name  is  legion.  The  following  list  of  musicians  still  living, 
who  are  composers  for  or  players  on  the  pianoforte,  therefore  lays 
no  claim  to  completeness.  —  Prominent  among  the  Berlin  musicians 
not  yet  named  are  Heinrich  Ehrlich,  a  distinguished  pianist,  teacher, 
writer,  and  the  composer  of  a  characteristic  Concertstuck  in  Unga- 
risclier  Wcise,  op.  1,  and  various  salon  pieces  (all  publ.  by  Bote  & 
Bock); — F.  E.  Wilsing,  the  composer  of  4  grand  Sonatas,  1  Fantasia 
in  i^jt- minor,  and  1  Humorcske  in  canon-form  (ditto); — C.  Hering, 
composer  of  1  Zigeuner- Serenade  for  4  hands  (Rieter-Biedermann), 
1  Sonata  (ditto),  and  other  piano  pieces; — J.  Hopfe,  author  of  Ein 
Friililingsmarclien,  Quartet  for  Pianoforte  and  Strings,  op.  48;  Ein 
Pfingstfest  auf  dem  Lande,  HumoresJce  for  4  hands,  op.  37;  3  Piano- 
forte Trios,  op.  40,  41,  and  43;  2  Easy  Trios,  op.  46  and  49 
(C.  A.  Cliallier  &  Co.,  Berlin);— Philipp  Scharwenka  has  published  a 
great  number  of  tasteful  pianoforte  pieces  varying  in  difficulty,  among 
them  1  Cavatina  with  'Cello,  op.  22,  and  Three  Concert stiiche  with 
Violin,  op.  17,  3  books;  special  gratitude  is  due  to  him  for  his  short, 
melodious  and  finely  finished  pieces  for  instruction,  such  as  the 
Albionhldtter,  op.  27  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel);  In  hunter  ReilWy  op.  32; 
Aus  der  Jugendseit,  op.  34,  2  books;  FestMdnge  fur  die  Jugcnd, 
op.  45  (Praeger  &  Meier);  Divertimenti,  10  short  piano-pieces,  op.  55, 
3  books  (Ad.  FUrstner);  Kinderspiele,  Series  I — II,  op.  64  and  op.  68 
(Breslau,  Hainauer).  In  all  these,  and  in  others  as  well,  is  found 
material  of  instruction  both  stimulating  and  formative  for  the  taste; 
— his  younger  brother  Xaver  Scharwenka  played  and  had  published 
1  Concerto  with  Orchestra  in  51?-minor,  op.  32,  which  has  met  with 


—     175     — 

much  favor;  a  second  Pianoforte  Concerto  with  Orchestra,  op.  56, 
C-miiior;  and  for  Pianoforte  without  accomp.  the  Wanderlieder,  op.  23, 
2  books;  Bilder  aus  Ungarn,  op.  26.  2  books  (all  publ.  by  Praeger  & 
Meier,  Bremen);  also,  besides  various  salon  pieces,  3  Sonatas,  op.  6 
in  Cjf-minor  and  op.  36  in  ^[?-major;  Theme  and  Variations,  op.  48, 
D-minor,  etc.; — C.  Biirgel  has  issued  the  well-received  works  Sonata 
in  £'[?,  op.  15;  2  Nocturnes,  op.  17  (Bote  &  Bock);  Mimosen,  lyric 
poems,  6  books,  op.  24  (Fr.  Hofmeister);  Waher-Capricen,  op.  11 
(Bartholf  Senflf),  and  other  pieces;  —  Philippe  Bartholome  Biifer 
(b.  1844  in  Liege,  since  1871  in  Berlin)  manifests  an  opulent  musical 
nature  in  his  Violin  Sonata,  op.  1,  a  brilliant  Trio,  2  Suites  for 
Pianoforte  and  'Cello,  op.  8  and  13,  and  various  piano-pieces.  In- 
ventive originality,  genuine  passion,  and  a  highly  artistic  style,  mark 
his  compositions.  Kilfer  is  at  present  a  teacher  in  Klindworth's 
Pianoforte  School;  —  Moritz  Moszkowski  (b.  1854  in  Breslau),  a  dis 
tinguished  virtuoso,  has  published  a  large  number  of  tastefully  and 
ingeniously  wrought  salon  pieces  for  his  instrument,  taking  Chopin 
as  his  model.  These  have  been  issued  for  the  most  part  by  Hainauer, 
Breslau. 

Dresden. — Here  we  find  the  excellent  pianoforte  virtuoso  A.  Blass- 
mann; — the  pianist  and  composer  J.  E.  Leonhard  (d.  1883); — the 
celebrated  concert  pianiste  Marie  Wieck;  —  Marie  Krebs,  who  has 
played  in  England,  France,  and  America  with  equal  success; — and 
the  gifted  Laura  Karer-Rappoldy.  In  Dresden  also  dwell  the  pianist 
and  music -historian  J.  Pttihlmann; — Doring,  noted  as  a  teacher  and 
composer  of  practical  pianoforte  Etudes;  —  and  Fritz  Spindler,  a 
composer  of  easily  playable  and  elegant  Salon  Pieces,  among  them 
Sonatinas,  6  books,  op.  136  (J.  Rieter-Biedermann);  3  little  Trios, 
op.  305  (S.  W.  Siegel,  Leipzig);  Im  Wald,  op.  75,  6  books;  Wan- 
derlieder, op.  100,  6  books;  3  FantasiestilcJce ,  op.  199;  Elegante 
Tanzweisen,  op.  294,  6  books; — Hermann  Scholz  has  published  the 
following  interesting  pianoforte  works:  Sonata  in  G^-minor,  op.  44 
(F.  E.  C.  Leuckart,  Leipzig) ;  Geistertans,  op.  21 ;  Traumhilder,  4  books, 
op.  22;  Ilumoreslie,  op.  23;  Saltarello  and  Tarantella,  2  books,  op.  24; 
8  Minnelieder,  op.  25;  and  others; — as  popular  pianoforte  teachers 
in  Dresden  we  note  Bertrand  Roth,  a  pupil  of  Liszt,  a  fine,  impres- 
sionable pianist;  and  Jean  Louis  Nicode  (b.  1853  at  Jerczik  in 
Posen),  a  pupil  of  Kullak,  Wiierst,  and  Kiel  Nicode  is  a  most 
talented  pianist  of  brilliant  powers  of  development;  besides  a  number 
of   original    orchestral    works,    he    has    arranged    Chopin's    Concert' 


—     176     — 

Allegro,  op.  46  for  public  performance  witli  Pianoforte  and  Orchestra, 
and  has  published  various  tasteful  and  interesting  pianoforte  works, 
as  Variations  and  Fugue  on  an  original  theme.  Sonata  in  i^- minor, 
3  £,tudes,  and  1  Sonata  in  G  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin.  His  chief 
orchestral  work,  Symplionic  Variations,  has  appeared  in  an  arrange- 
ment for  Pianoforte  for  4  hands  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel). — Felix  Drae- 
seke,  for  2  years  a  teacher  of  theory  in  the  Dresden  Conservatory, 
has  also  written  a  brilliant  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  E^  (Leipzig, 
F.  Kistuer). — Emil  Sauer,  one  of  the  most  eminent  among  the  younger 
pianists  of  the  Liszt  school,  has  also  settled  in  Dresden. 

Adolf  Jensen  (b.  1837  in  Konigsberg,  d.  1879  in  Baden-Baden) 
was  a  fruitful  author  of  attractive,  cleanly  written,  and  technically 
"convenient"  piano -pieces,  all  of  which  manifest  the  poetic  vein  of 
the  genial  composer.  We  name  the  following:  Sonata  in  jPJ;|- minor, 
op.  25  (Bartholf  Senff);  Innere  Stimmen,  5  pieces,  op,  2;  Fantasie- 
stucke,  2  books,  op.  7;  BomantiseJie  Studien,  2  Parts,  op.  8;  3  Piano- 
forte Pieces  for  4  hands,  op.  18;  and  Alia  Marcia,  Canzonetta, 
Scherzo,  0^.  42  (Fritz  Schuberth,  Hamburg);  Jagdsceiten,  op.  15; 
Trois  Valses- Caprices,  3  books,  op.  31;  Lieder  und  Tdnse,  20  little 
piano-pieces,  op.  33  (Fr.  Kistner,  Leipzig);  2  Nocturnes,  op.  38  (Robt. 
Forberg,  Leipzig);  Wanderhilder,  2  books,  op.  17;  Etudes,  3  books, 
op.  32;  and  Erinnerungen ,  op.  48  (C.  F.  Peters);  Idyllen,  op.  43; 
Hoclizeitsmusih  for  4  hands,  op.  45;  Ldndler  aus  BcrcJitcsgaden, 
op.  46;    Abendnmsih  for  4  hands,   op.  59;    Lehenshilder  for  4  hands, 

2  books,  op.  60;  and  Silhouettes,  6  piano-pieces  for  4  hands  (Julius 
Hainauer,  Breslau).— Jacob  Rosenhain  (b.  1813),  an  excellent  pianist 
of  the  old  school,  and  a  composer  whose  talent  was  praised  by 
Robert  Schumann,   is  still   living  at  Baden-Baden;    he   has   written 

3  Pianoforte  Trios,  1  Pianoforte  Concerto,  3  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte, 
1  Sonata  for  'Cello  and  Pianoforte,  and  many  salon  pieces. 

Louis  Ehlert  (1825—1884)  numbers  among  his  delicately  wrought 
compositions  Pianoforte  Pieces  for  4  hands,  op.  18  and  19;  Lieder 
und  Studien,  op.  20  (Berlin,  Schlesinger).  As  able  teachers,  virtuosi, 
and  composers  we  may  also  mention  Mortier  de  Fontaine  (b.  1816 
in  Wisniewiec,  d.  1883  in  London),  who  was  the  first  that  ventured 
to  perform  in  public  one  of  Beethoven's  last  great  Sonatas,  op.  106, 
—and  Julius  Schaffer  (b.  1823)  of  Breslau,  whose  poetically  musical 
compositions,  as  the  FantasiestiicJcc ,  op.  1,  Fantasie-Variationen, 
op.  2,  and  Polonaise,  op.  4,  are  well  worthy  of  notice.— Alfred  Jaell 
(1832—1882),  a  pianoforte  virtuoso  distinguished  for  his  fine  touch 


—     177     — 

and  delicate  2iia)tissiiiio,  as  well  as  for  his  large  repertory,  under- 
took very  successful  concert-tours.  His  published  pianoforte  pieces 
are  effectively  written,  and  display  their  composer's  refined  taste; 
we  note  Caprices,  op.  104  and  105;  Nocturne  sentimental,  op.  125 
(Leipzig,  Kistner);  Trois  morceaux  de  salon,  op.  106  (Leipzig, 
Siegel);  La  SylpJdde,  op.  116  (B.  Senff);  La  Fontaine,  op.  117 
(Leipzig,  Leuckart);  Valse  caprice,  op.  161  (Leipzig,  R.  Forberg). — 
Leopold  von  Meyer  (b.  1816  in  Vienna,  d.  1883  in  Dresden)  extended 
his  travels  to  America,  where  his  appearance  excited  a  furore;  but 
neither  his  programs  nor  compositions  are  equal  in  quality  to  Jaell's. 
—  Two  highly  talented  pianistes,  Anna  Mehlig  of  Stuttgart  and 
Sophie  Menter- Popper  of  Munich,  win  applause  and  laurel  wreaths 
wherever  they  go.  The  latter  was  for  some  years  a  piano  teacher 
in  the  St.  Petersburg  Conservatory,  but  resigned  this  position  in  1887, 
after  Anton  Rubinstein  assumed  the  management  of  this  institution 
and  instituted  energetic  reforms.  —  Ignaz  Briill  (b.  1846)  is  not  only 
a  favorite  opera  composer,  but  is  also  well-known  as  a  pianist  and 
composer  of  valuable  pianoforte  works.  Of  these  latter  we  note  the 
following:  First  Concerto  with  Orchestra  in  F,  op.  10,  and  Second 
Concerto  in  C,  op.  24  (Bote  &  Bock);  Three  Fiano- pieces  (Vienna, 
Spina);  7  Fantasiestuclce ,  3  books,  op.  8  (Fr.  Kistner). — At  IMunich 
the  highly  gifted  composer  Rich.  Strauss  (b.  there  June  11,  1864)  is 
at  present  engaged  as  third  HofJcapellmcister;  1  'Cello  Sonata,  1  Piano- 
forte Sonata  in  5-minor,  op.  5,  a  number  of  smaller,  characteristic 
pieces,  and  above  all  a  i)rize  Pianoforte  Quartet,  reveal  an  unusual 
inventiA  e  fficulty,  and  a  confidence  of  style  remarkable  in  view  of 
the  composer's  youth. 

Outside  of  Germany  Jul.  Carl  Eschmann  of  Zurich  (1825—1882) 
is  to  be  mentioned.  His  Album  fur  Pianoforte,  op.  17  (Berlin  and 
Leipzig,  Luckhardt),  contains  12  strongly  characteristic,  cleanly 
written  FantasiestilcJce  of  a  serious  or  cheerful  nature;  his  numerous 
piano-pieces  written  for  the  young,  like  the  28  German  Folk-songs, 
op.  51,  The  16  German  FolJc-songs  for  4  hands,  etc.,  are  interesting 
for  the  teacher  and  stimulating  for  the  pupil.  Among  these  we  may 
also  mention  op.  60,  For  the  First  Pianoforte  Year,  and  op.  61, 
For  the  Second  and  Third  Pianoforte  Years,  and  many  instructive 
works  issued  by  the  same  publisher. — Auguste  Dupont  (b.  1828)  is 
engaged  in  the  Conservatory  of  Music  at  Brussels,  and  is  highly 
esteemed  as  a  teacher  and  composer;  among  his  published  works  we 
fmd  the  following  brilliant  pianoforte  pieces:   Le  Staccato  perpetuel, 

12 


—     178     — 

^ande  Etude  de  concert,  op.  31  (Bieitkopf  &  Hartel);  Fluic  de  Mai, 
Etude  de  trilles,  op.  2;  Contes  dn  foyer,  6  morceaux  caracteristiques, 
op.  12;  Danse  des  Almecs,  Etude  fantastique,  op.  25;  Fantaisie  et 
fugue  pour  la  main  droite,  op.  41;  Bonion  en  dix  pages,  op.  48,  dix 
cahiers  (all  pul)l.  by  Scliott's  Sohne,  Mainz).  Dupont  also  published 
with  the  collaboration  of  Gustave  Sandre  an  J^coJe  de  Piano  du  Con- 
servatoire royal  de  Bruxelles  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel),  a  collection  of 
early  and  recent  classical  master-works,  provided  for  the  i)urpose  of 
instruction  with  tingeriugs,  phrasing,  notes  on  the  rendering,  etc. — 
The  finished  pianoforte  virtuoso  Louis  Brassin  (b.  1840,  d.  1884) 
was  in  turn  teacher  in  the  Stern  Conservatory  at  Berlin,  the  Brussels 
Conservatory,  and  the  Conservatory  at  St.  Petersburg;  his  published 
works  include,  besides  many  concert  pieces,  the  Grand  Galop  fan- 
tastique, op.  5;  Valse-Caprice,  op.  6;  Le  Ruisseau,  morceau  de  salon, 
op.  8;  Graudes  i^tudes  de  concert,  op.  12,  en  4  suites;  6  Morceaux 
de  fantaisie,  op.  21,  3  suites  (all  publ.  by  Schott's  Sohne,  Mainz). 
A  pupil  of  Brassin,  Franz  Eummel  (b.  1853  in  London)  an  eminent 
pianist,  lives  at  Berlin. — Fritz  Gernsheira  (b.  1839),  the  Director  of 
the  Conservatory  at  Rotterdam,  is  noted  as  a  fine  pianist,  and  has 
written  valuable  pianoforte  works,  among  them  being  1  Quartet  for 
Pianoforte,  Violin,  Viola,  and  Violoncello,  op.  6,  in  E^^  (Breitkopf  & 
Hartel);  Suite  in  4  movements,  op.  8;  Variations  in  C-minor,  op.  22; 
Fantaisies,  op.  26,  27  (Mainz,  Schott's  Sohne). — In  his  native  city, 
Copenhagen,  dwelt  and  died  the  renowned  composer  Niels  W.  Gade 
(b.  1817,  d.  1890),  whose  pianoforte  works  are  written  cleanly  and 
in  the  peculiar  northern  style;  of  these  there  have  been  issued  by 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  Sonata  in  A  with  Violin,  op.  6,  and  another  in 
D-minor,  op.  21;  Fruldingsfantasie,  Concert  piece  for  4  solo  voices. 
Orchestra,  and  Pianoforte,  op.  23;  ArahesJcc,  op.  27;  Sonata  in  E- 
minor,  op.  28;  Vollcstiinse,  Fantasiestiiche,  op.  31;  Trio  with  ^'iolin 
and  Violoncello  in  F,  op.  42; — by  Fr.  Kistner,  Aqiiarellen,  op.  19; 
der  Kinder  Christalend,  little  piano-i)ieces;  op.  41,  Fantasiesiilcke; — 
by  Piieter-Bicdermann,  Idyllen; — and  by  C.  F.  Peters,  Marches  for 
4  hands,  and  SJcandinaviscJie  Vollcslieder. — Among  the  northern  com- 
posers Edvard  Hugcrup  Grieg,  born  on  June  15,  1843,  at  Bergen  in 
Norway,  occupies  a  prominent  place.  In  his  Pianoforte  Concerto,  op.  16, 
JL-minor,  for  2  Pianofortes,  Violin  Sonatas,  op.  8,  i^-major,  and  op.  13, 
G-major,  1  Sonata  for  Pianoforte  and  'Cello,  op.  36,  and  in  a  number 
of  piano-pieces  and  songs,  Grieg  displays  strong  original  talent,  and 
a  poetic  vein  happily  influenced  b}^  the  folk-songs  of  his  native  land 


—     179     — 

—  Ludwi.2:  Normann  (b.  1831  at  Stockholm,  d.  there  ia  1885)  deserves 
mention  as  a  gifted  composer.  Besides  many  pieces  for  2  and 
4  hands,  his  published  works  include  1  Violin  Sonata,  1  Pianoforte 
Trio,  1  Pianoforte  Quartet,  etc. — Emil  Hartmann  the  younger  is  a 
remarkably  gifted  musician  (b.  at  Copenhagen  in  1836),  who  has 
written  among  other  things  1  Pianoforte  Trio,  1  Serenade  for  Piano- 
forte, 'Cello,  and  Clarinet,  and  salon  pieces  for  Pianoforte,  wherein 
he,  however,  does  not  reach  as  high  a  plane  as  his  father  and 
teacher,  E.  Hartmann  the  elder  (b.  1805),  who  is  one  of  the  first 
of  northern  composers,  having  written,  besides  operas,  symphonies, 
overtures,  cantatas,  etc.,  some  very  original  piano-pieces — Novelletten. 
— We  also  note  the  original  Swedish  composer  Franz  Berwald  of 
Stockholm  (1796 — 1868),  the  early  and  self-sustained  writer  of  the 
following  neo-romantic  Pianoforte  Works:  Two  Quintets  for  Pianoforte 
and  Strings;  5  Trios  with  Violin  and  'Cello;  and  1  Duo  with  'Cello 
(Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.) — Joseph  Nowakowski,  the  Pole  (b,  1805, 
d.  1865),  likewise  deserves  mention  as  the  composer  of  national 
Masurhas,  op.  10,  19,  and  26,  and  his  Polonaises,  op.  13  and  14 
(Breitkopf  &  Hartel). — Anton  Dvorak  (b.  1841  at  JMiihlhausen  near 
Kralup  in  Bohemia)  also  occupies  a  high  place  among  non- German 
composers  for  the  pianoforte.  His  ^'Slavic  Dances"  for  4  hands, 
1  Pianoforte  Concerto,  op.  35,  and  other  piano -pieces  and  larger 
works,  reveal  a  distinguished  talent,  which  is,  to  be  sure,  almost 
exclusively  devoted  to  the  national  tendency.  Slavic  rhythms  and 
melody-forms  characterize  his  works  wellnigh  throughout. 

Theodor  Leschetizki  (b.  1840  in  Vienna),  a  pianist  of  high 
standing,  was  from  1864  to  1878  a  teacher  in  the  St.  Petersburg  Con- 
servatory, and  is  now  living  with  his  spouse  and  former  pupil  Annette 
Essipoff  in  Vienna  as  a  private  insti'uctor.  His  Pianoforte  Works 
published  by  Schlesinger  (Berlin)  include  Bomance,  op.;  14;  Les 
Clochettes,  op.  16;  Six  Meditations,  op.  19;  Perpetuum  mohile,  op.  20; 
£tude  for  the  left  hand,  op.  13; — by  Spina  (Vienna),  Gruss  an  die 
NacJit,  op.  1;  Valse  cromatique,  op.  22;— by  Leuckart  (Leipzig),  6  books 
of  Improvisations^  op.  11.  —  His  renowned  pupil,  Annette  Essipoff 
(b.  1850)  everywhere  wins  enthusiastic  and  well-earned  applause  on 
her  frequent  professional  tours.— Nicolas  Rubinstein  (b.  1845  at  Mos- 
cow, d.  1881  in  Paris),  a  brother  of  Anton,  founded  a  Conservatory 
of  IMusic  at  Moscow;  as  a  pianoforte  virtuoso  he  knew  no  difficulties. 

Turning  to  London,  we  find  Arabella  Goddard,  "the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  English  pianoforte-players"  (b.  1838),  a  pupil  of  Kalk- 

12* 


—     180    — 

brenuer,  Thalberg,  and  finally  of  J.  W.  Davison  (d.  1885),  tlie  feared 
and  famous  musical  critic  of  the  Times,  whom  she  married  in  1860. 
As  a  classical  player,  especially  of  Beethoven's  Sonatas,  she  is  greeted 
with  enthusiasm  not  only  in  England,  but  also  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  (Leipzig,  Gewandhaus,  1855),  America,  Australia,  and  India; 
—Charles  Halle  (b.  1819)  also  enjoys  a  high  reputation  both  in  Eng- 
land and  France.  In  1836  he  left  Germany,  his  native  country,  for 
Paris,  where  his  spirited  performances,  and  in  particular  his  charac- 
teristic interpretation  of  classical  compositions,  speedily  gained  him 
numerous  friends  and  pupils.  In  1848  he  proceeded  to  London,  and 
created  a  sensation  there  by  his  fine  reuderings  of  Beethoven's  works. 
Since  1857  he  has  been  about  equally  occupied  in  Manchester  and 
London.  Of  his  published  compositions  we  note  4  Romances,  op.  1 
(Schlesinger);  4  Esquisses,  op.  2,  Scherbo,  op.  4,  and  JSIificeUavies, 
op.  5  (London,  Cramer,  Beale  &  Co.).  —  Rudolph  Schachner  is  the 
eomposer  of  several  pianoforte  Concertos  and  minor  salon  pieces, 
such  as  La  chosse,  op.  12  (Schlesinger),  and  Souvenir  de  Deepclcne 
(Kistner).— G.  A.  Osborne,  W.  Kuhe,  and  J.  Blumenthal  also  dwell  in 
London,  and  have  published  a  series  of  "easy  and  entertaining  piano- 
forte pieces  for  amateurs". 

Among  Parisian  pianists  Saint- Saens  still  takes  the  lead  as  a 
musician  (comp.  page  205);  beside  him  shone  or  still  shine  the  artists 
from  the  school  of  Marmontel,  as  Francis  Plante,  Th.  Turner,  Georges 
Bizet  (1838—1875),  Henri  Ketten  (1828—1883),  Louis  Diemer,  Victor 
Alphons  Duvernoy,  Lavignac,  Lack,  Galeotti,  Delafosse,  and  others. 


Franz  Liszt. 

In  the  course  of  our  survey  we  have  seen  how  in  Italy,  during 
the  16  th  century,  the  instrumental  style  was  developed  under  the 
influence  of  the  Netherlander  Adrian  Willaert  out  of  contrapuntally 
wrought  vocal  music,  beginning  with  the  stricter  organ  style.  Further 
on,  this  instrumental  style  showed  greater  animation  and  flexiltility 
in  the  works  of  Merulo  and  the  ingenious  Frescobaldi,  until  in  the 
17  th  century,  foremostly  through  Pasquini's  interesting  performances 
a  freer  secular  clavier  style  was  created,  which  reached  its  climax 
during  the  18th  century  in  the  brilliant  sonata  movements  of  Do- 
minico  Scarlatti.  Contemporary  with  this  Italian  school  there  arose, 
in  France,    another  cultivating  more  graceful    measures  and  motlier 


—     181     — 

embellishments,  which  flourished  from  ChamYjion  (d.  1670)  down  to 
Couperin  le  Grand  (d.  1733);  while  in  Germany  the  more  serious 
contrapuntal  compositions,  gradually  disappearing  from  Italy  and 
France,  found  their  proper  abiding-place.  To  Hans  Leo  Hasler  (d.  1612), 
who  was  trained  in  Venice  under  the  guidance  of  the  meritorious 
Andrea  Gabrieli,  and  to  his  contemporaries  and  successors,  we  owe 
the  groundwork  of  an  intellectually  inspired  German  organ  style, 
which  attained  to  perfection  in  the  master-fugues  of  Seb.  Bach  (d.  1750), 
His  impressionable  son  Emanuel  Bach  then  succeeded  in  establishing 
the  art-form  of  the  Sonata,  wi'itten  especially  for  the  clavier  and 
consisting  of  three  movements,  which  Mozart  later  endowed  with 
expressive  lyrical  inspiration,  and  Clementi  with  more  diversitied  and 
brilliant  colors.  Beethoven  thereafter  raised  the  Sonata  to  a  heart- 
stirring  musical  drama,  gave  it  the  unity  necessary  to  every  work  of 
art  by  his  ingenious  and  exhaustive  working-out  of  its  various  motives, 
and  likewise  contrived  the  most  interesting  contrasts  by  means  of 
spirited  episodes  and  unexpected  modulations.  And  while  the  follow- 
ing pure  virtuoso  pieces  of  Herz  and  Thalberg,  calculated  solely  for 
external  effect,  quite  gave  over  special  characterization,  Chopin  and 
Schumann  poured  into  their  romantic  compositions  the  inspiration  of 
an  enthusiastic,  lofty  poetry. 

This  language  of  souls  lifted  so  far  above  the  common  herd,  was 
still  understood  by  but  a  narrow  circle  of  sympathetic  friends,  and 
Schumann  was  still  hurlirg  his  sharp  arrows  at  the  dull-witted 
opponents  of  the  rising  flood  of  R  manticism,  when  Franz  Liszt 
appeared  in  the  arena,  recalling  to  life  the  ancient  myths  of  the 
spellful  charm  of  music.  Wherever  he  appeared,  he  won  irresistibly 
the  adherence  of  all  parties,  and  celebrated  triumphs  whose  like  had 
been  granted  to  no  other  conqueror  in  this  field.  His  indescribably 
vigorous  and  powerful  playing  caused  a  complete  revolution  in  piano- 
forte-playing, pianoforte  literature,  and  pianoforte  construction;  he 
elevated  virtuosity  to  a  dizzy  height,  and  has  seemingly  exhausted 
the  means  of  expression  of  his  instrument  so  far,  that  a  further  en- 
hancement would  seem  hardly  imaginable.  He  was  born  on  Oct.  22, 
1811,  in  Raiding  near  Pcsth,  received  pianoforte  lessons  from  his 
father  from  1817,  and  was  able  only  three  years  later  to  play  in 
public,  at  Oedenburg,  Ries'  Concerto  in  E\>  and  a  free  fantasia.  Prince 
Esterhazy,  of  whose  estates  his  father  was  the  overseer,  attended 
the  concert,  and  was  much  delighted  at  the  boy's  playing,  rewarding 
him  with  a  costly  present.    Soon  after,  his  father  took  him  to  Press- 


—     182     — 

burg,  and  liere  too  his  playing  met  with  so  favorable  a  reception, 
that  Counts  Amaden  and  Zapaiy  were  induced  to  allow  him  an 
a,nnual  stipend  of  6  00  florins  for  six  years,  for  his  further  education. 
The  happy  parents  thereupon  moved  to  Vienna,  where  Franz  began 
regular  music  lessons  under  Carl  Czerny.  He  found  dementi's  sonatas 
uninteresting,  but  grasped  the  works  of  Hummel  and  Beethoven  with 
such  fiery  zeal  that  the  aged  Salieri,  having  once  heard  him  play, 
likewise  felt  drawn  to  him,  and  offered  to  give  him  his  first  instruc- 
tion in  composition.  On  his  visits  to  the  music  shops,  the  compo- 
sitions shown  him  never  promised  sufficient  difficulty.  But  once  he 
happened  to  meet  several  musicians  engaged  in  the  examination  of 
Hummel's  pianoforte  concerto  in  ^-minor,  then  fresh  from  the  press, 
and  was  asked  by  them,  whether  this  work  would  not  put  his  skill 
to  the  test.  The  youthful  Liszt  placed  the  concerto  on  the  piano, 
and  played  it  at  sight,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  present.  In  the 
year  1822,  after  the  unbroken,  assiduous  study  of  18  months,  he 
gave  his  first  concert  in  Vienna  before  a  brilliant  asseml)lage;  after 
the  concert  was  ended,  the  otherwise  morose  master,  Beethoven, 
approached  him  with  friendly  mien,  and  with  a  kiss  pressed  the 
seal  of  consecration  on  his  forehead.  In  the  following  year  his 
father  accompanied  him  to  Paris,  and  the  remarkable  performances 
of  the  inspired  romanticist,  then  scarce  twelve  years  old,  created  a 
sensation  even  at  that  early  day  at  the  elegant  soirees  of  the  metro- 
polis. In  England  during  1824  he  found  no  scantier  favor,  and  a 
gi-and  concert  arranged  on  his  return  to  Paris  called  forth  the  live- 
liest enthusiasm.  His  strict  father,  however,  insisted  upon  his  con- 
tinuing regular  practice;  among  other  matters  he  had  daily  to  play 
several  of  Bach's  fugues  to  his  father,  and  to  transpose  them  imme- 
diately into  various  keys.  From  1826  he  resumed  theoretical  studies 
under  Beicha,  but  at  this  period  fell  into  a  state  of  gloomy  religious 
exaltation,  which  took  such  full  possession  of  him,  that  his  father 
occasioned  him  to  make  a  concert-tour  through  France,  and  in  the 
following  year  sojourned  for  a  considerable  time  in  Switzerland  and 
England.  To  invigorate  his  unstrung  nervous  system,  his  father  took 
him  in  1827  to  the  ocean  resort  Boulogne,  but  died  shortly  after,  and 
Liszt  returned  to  Paris,  resolved  to  occupy  himself  there  in  teaching 
music.  His  chief  intercourse  at  this  time  was  with  the  able  and 
original  musician  Christian  Urhan,  who  was  at  once  violinist  in 
the  Grand  Opera  and  organist  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paule,  and  whose 
liberal  views  on  theoretical  questions,  together  with  pianoforte  works 


—     183     — 

corresponding'ly  composed,  had  gained  Liszt's  liking.  Of  Urlian's 
little-known  compositions,  tlie  following  were  published  at  Pads  by 
liichault:  Elle  et  moi,  Duo  romantique  a  4  mains,  op.  1;  Deuxienie 
Duo  romantique;  La  salutation  angeliqiie,  Duo  a  4  mains;  Les  regrets 
and  Les  Jettres,  two  pieces  for  pianoforte  solo. 

In  the  year  1828  Hector  Berlioz,  the  gifted  originator  of  our 
modern  Program  Music,  brought  out  his  Overtures  to  WaverJey  and 
the  Francs-j'uges,  and,  in  the  year  succeeding,  the  grand  Symphonic 
pliantastique,  ''Episode  de  la  vie  d'un  artiste".  Liszt  instantly  recog- 
nized the  extraordinary  creative  genius  of  this  composer— still  rightly 
appreciated  by  but  a  few  unprejudiced  musicians — and  exhibited  for 
the  first  time,  in  the  Partition  de  Piano  of  the  latter  work,  through 
what  hitherto  unknown  means  of  expression  (effect)  the  pianoforte  is 
able  to  take  the  place  of  an  entire  orchestra  in  its  volume  and  its 
manifold  effects  of  tone.  This  pianoforte  transcription,  which  only 
Liszt  himself  could  then  play,  aroused  the  admiration  of  all  pianists, 
and  induced  him  later  to  undertake  similar,  though  less  difficult, 
arrangements,  of  the  following  instrumental  works:  Cinqtiieme  et 
Sixieme  Sympliouic  de  Beethoven,  Partition  de  Piano,  Leipzig,  Breit- 
kopf  &  Hartel;  Septieme  SympJwnie  de  Beethoven,  Vienna,  Hasliugerl 
JSfintJi  Symphony  by  Beethoven,  arr.  for  two  pianofortes,  Mainz,  Schott; 
Grand  Scptuor  de  Beethoven,  Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  Marche 
fiinehre  de  la  Sinfonia  eroica  de  Beethoven,  Vienna,  Mechetti;  Harold, 
Symphonic  de  Berlioz;  Weber's  Overtures  to  "Der  FreiscM'ds"  and 
"Oheron",  and  the  Jnhelouverture ,  Berlin,  Schlesinger;  Overture  to 
William  Tell,  by  Rossini,  Mainz,  Schott;  Overture  to  the  Francs-juges 
and  to  Roi  Lear,  by  Berlioz  (ditto);  Overture  to  Tannhduser,  by 
Wagner;    KirchUche  Fest-Ouverture,  by  Nicolai,  Leipzig,  Hofmcister. 

A  sharp  contrast  to  these  bold  transcriptions  of  orchestral  works 
is  formed  by  the  deeply  emotional  tone -poems  in  which  Liszt  gave 
himself  up  to  })ious  contemplation,  whereby  he  was  frequently 
led  to  keep  his  room  for  weeks  together.  To  such  original  compo- 
sitions belong:  Harmonies  poetiques  et  religieuses,  7  books,  Leipzig, 
Kistner;  Apparitions,  Berlin,  Schlesinger;  and  Consolations,  Breit- 
kopf  &  Hartel. 

Paganini,  the  mighty  master  of  the  violin,  appeared  in  Paris 
in  1831  and  threw  all  former  virtuosi  into  the  shade  by  the  irre- 
sistible attraction  of  his  concerts.  He  not  only  executed  the  most 
incredible  difficulties  with  perfect  finish,  but  such  difficulties  also  seem- 
ed like  essential  means  for  expressing  special  moods,  for  the  mani- 


—     184    — 

festation  of  tlie  keenest  pain  or  wantonest  humor.  By  these  perfor- 
mances  Liszt  was  stirred  to  his  inmost  soul;  he  reached  the  conviction, 
that  a  great  assemblage  could  be  thrown  into  such  unexampled 
enthusiasm  only  through  novel  and  unusual  means;  —  that,  the  piano- 
forte could  be  made  to  produce  musical  and  emotional  effects  rival- 
ling in  expressiveness  those  of  the  violin;  and  resolved  to  become 
the  Paganini  of  the  pianoforte. — For  a  long  time  nothing  more 
w^as  heard  of  Liszt;  he  vanished  almost  utterly  from  public  notice, 
and  people  were  reminded  of  him  only  through  his  Grandes 
Etudes  de  Paganini,  transcrites  pour  le  piano,  2  books  (the  first 
contains  La  Campanella),  which  appeared  at  that  time  (Breitkopf  & 
Hartel).  These  Studies  were  supplemented  later  by  the  following 
original  works:  Etudes  d'execution  transcendante,  2  books  (same 
publ.),  including  Mazeppa,  £roica,  Feux  foJJets,  etc;  Trots  grandes 
i^tudes  de  Concert,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  and  Ab-Irato,  Etude  de  per- 
fectionnement,  Berlin,  Schlesinger.  Meantime  he  had  quitted  Paris, 
was  heard  from  as  staying  by  the  Ehine  and  in  Switzerland,  and 
not  until  five  years  after  the  first  Paganini  concerts  in  Paris  did  he 
suddenly  reappear  on  the  scene  of  his  earlier  successes,  with  the 
announcement  of  a  concert.  But  now  he  was  no  longer  "le  petit 
Liszt"  who  formerly  enraptured  the  beau  monde  of  the  salons;  he 
was  the  finished  master,  whom  thenceforward  no  rival  dared  oppose. 
Under  his  hands  the  pianoforte  was  transformed,  now  to  a  thrilling 
organ,  now  to  a  soothing  ^olian  harp;  anon  his  unheard-of,  demonic 
harmonies  swept  on  like  a  stormwind,  and  again  he  charmed  the  ear 
with  dulcet,  flute -like  tones  and  wierd  melodies,  around  which 
marvellous  passages  wound  like  arabesques  twined  of  bright  flowers 
and  pearls. 

The  years  from  1836  to  1848  show  an  unbroken  scries  of  the 
brilliant  triumphs  of  this  creator  of  the  modern  art  of  pianoforte- 
playing,  which  combines  all  fine  traits  of  the  earlier  schools.  He 
first  proceeded  to  Vienna  and  Hungar}^  in  1837,  then  travelled  through 
Italy  as  far  as  Naples,  appeared  in  1840  at  Leipzig,  in  1842  at 
Berlin,  visited  Russia,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Spain,  and  Portugal  in  turn, 
and  in  1847  played  even  at  Constantinople.  In  Pesth  he  was 
presented  with  a  splendid  sword,  in  Konigsberg  he  was  created 
Doctor;  the  Emperor  of  Austria  conferred  the  order  of  knighthood 
upon  him.  the  Pope  honored  him  with  the  order  of  the  Golden  Spur, 
and  the  Grand- duke  of  Weimar,  who  had  made  him  his  Hof kapell- 
meister   in    1848,    appointed    him    his   cliaml)erlain.     No    artist    has 


—     185     — 

been  so  loaded  with  honors  as  Liszt,  but  as  a  man  no  one  has  proved 
himself  worthier  of  them.  Wherever  help  was  needed  to  support  a 
great  undertaking,  to  raise  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  a  cele- 
brated man,  to  encourage  an  ardent  talent,  or  to  succor  the  sorely 
distressed,  he  always  showed  his  greatheartedness  by  word  and  deed. 

The  original  compositions  performed  at  his  concerts  and  pub- 
lished later,  were  at  first  held  for  impracticable  by  all  other  pianists. 
But  Liszt  gathered  about  him  in  Weimar  a  circle  of  pupils  of  both 
sexes,  familiarized  them  with  his  new  manner  of  holding  the  hand, 
his  fingering,  and  style  of  playing,  repeating  emphatically,  that  to  be 
effective  the  style  must  be  full  of  soul  and  character,  and  that  the 
artist  "should  not  appear  before  the  audience  like  the  accused  before 
his  judges,  but  as  a  witness  to  eternal  truth  and  beauty". 

To  Liszt's  most  effective  Concert  Compositions  belong  the 
following  Fantasias  on  motives  from  various  operas:  Grande  Fan- 
taisie  dramatiqiie  sur  des  themes  de  I'opera  Les  Huguenots,  Berlin, 
Schlesinger;  Reminiscences  de  JRohert  le  diahle,  ditto;  Heminiscences 
de  la  Juive,  ditto;  Reminiscences  de  Don  Juan,  ditto;  Fantaisie  sur 
des  motifs  de  I'opera  La  Sonnambtda,  Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.; 
Reminiscences  de  Norma,  Mainz,  Schott;  Reminiscences  des  Puritains, 
ditto;  /  Puritani,  Introduction  and  Polonaise,  ditto;  Fantaisie  sur  la 
Tyrolienne  de  I'opera  La  Fiancee,  Vienna,  Mechetti;  Reminiscences 
de  L/iicrcsia  Borgia,  2  books,  ditto;  Reminiscences  de  Lucia  di  Lam- 
mcrmoor,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  Marche  et  Cavatine  de  Lucia,  Mainz, 
Schott;  Illustrations  du  Prophete  de  Meyerbeer,  3  books,  Leipzig, 
Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel;  2  pieces  from  Wagner's  Tannhduser  and  Lohen- 
grin, ditto;  3  pieces  from  Lohengrin,  ditto;  Andante  and  March  from 
the  opera  Alfred  by  J.  Raff,  Magdeburg,  Heinrichshofen;  Deux 
Motifs  de  Benvenuto  Cellini  de  Berlioz,  Brunswick,  Meyer;  4  Concert 
Paraphrases  on  "God  save  the  Queen",  Ernani,  Rigoletto,  and  II  Tro- 
vatore  by  Verdi,  Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  Hochseitsmarsch  und 
Elfenreigen  from  the  Sommernachtstraum,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  Marche 
fimebre  de  Don  Sebastian,  Vienna,  Mechetti;  Valse  de  bravoure  on 
Motives  from  Gounod's  Faust,  Berlin,  Bote  &  Bock.  — To  these  may 
be  added  the  following  effective  Salon  Pieces:  Tarantella  di  bra- 
vura, Vienna,  Mechetti;  Gaudeamus  igitur,  Breslau,  Hainauer;  Hus- 
sitenlicd,  Leipzig,  Hofmeister;  Leier  und  Schwert,  after  C.  M.  v.  Weber, 
Berlin,  Schlesinger;  Capriccio  alia  turca,  Vienna,  Mechetti;  Unga- 
rischer  Sturmmarsch,  Berlin,  Schlesinger;  Venecia  e  Napoli,  Mainz, 
Schott;  Zwei  Balladen,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  Scherbo  und  3Iarsch,  Bruns- 


—     186     — 

wick,  Meyer;  Drei  Caprices -Valses ,  Vienna,  Haslinger;  HeroiscJier 
MarscJi  in  Hungarian  style,  Berlin,  Schlesinger;  Goethe- Festmarsch, 
Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  2  characteristic  Polonaises  and  a  bril- 
liant Mazur'k.a,  Leipzig,  Senff;  a  seductive  Valsc- Impromptu,  Leipzig, 
J.  Sehubertli  &  Co.;  and  finally  1  Galop  chromatique  (Leipzig,  Hof- 
meister),  sweeping  onward  with  demonic  wantonness,  and  executed 
by  Liszt  in  an  incredibly  rapid  tempo. 

The  original  compositions  in  the  Annees  de  pelerinage,  suites  de 
compositions  pour  le  Piano,  1®  annee,  Suisse;  2^  annee,  Italic  (Mainz, 
Schott)  breathe  now  the  most  ardent  devotion,  now  the  deepest  me- 
lancholy of  a  youthful,  impressionable  nature  lost  in  wrapt  survey 
of  the  natural  beauties  of  those  countries;  while  a  grand  Concert  Solo 
in  ^-minor  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel),  and  still  more  a  Sonata  in  5-minor 
dedicated  to  Robert  Schumann  (ditto),  rank  with  Liszt's  grandest  and 
most  original  works  by  reason  of  their  peculiar  form,  fantastic  spi- 
rit, and  venturesome  modulutions. 

A  species  of  music-piece  invented  by  Liszt  are  the  Transcrip- 
tions for  the  Pianoforte,  in  which  not  only  the  melodies  treated 
take  on  a  wann,  living  colorit  conformable  to  their  character,  but 
the  poems,  too,  on  which  they  are  founded  are  charmingly  and  spirit- 
edly illustrated  by  music  closely  following  the  thread  of  the  story.  Franz 
Schubert's  songs,  in  particular,  first  became  generally  known  and  popular 
in  Germany  through  Liszt's  spirited  transcriptions  for  piano.  Of  these 
there  have  been  published:  Tivelve  Songs  by  Franz  Schubert,  tran- 
scribed for  the  Pianoforte,  Vienna,  Spina;  ScJiivanengesang,  14  Num- 
bers, Vienna,  Haslinger;  the  Winterreise,  10  Numbers,  ditto;  Die  Bose 
and  Lob  der  Thrdnen,  ditto;  the  3Iiillerlieder,  transcribed  for  piano- 
forte in  easier  style,  3  books,  Vienna,  Spina;  Six  Melodies,  Berlin, 
Schlesinger;  the  Sacred  Songs,  Leipzig,  J.  Schuberth  &  Co. —  To  the 
same  class  belong  Beethoven's  Songs  for  the  Pianoforte,  12  Numbers 
publ.  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  and  6  Numbers  by  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.; 
Songs  hy  Mendelssohn,  7  Numbers  publ.  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  and 
2  Numbers  by  Kistner  in  Leipzig;  Songs  hy  Robert  Franz,  3  books, 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  Liebeslied  by  Schumann,  Schlummerlied  by  C.  M. 
V.  Weber,  and  "0  du,  mein  holder  Abendstern"  from  Tannhauser, 
Leipzig,  Kistner;  Buch  der  Lieder  by  Liszt,  four  Pianoforte  soli, 
Berlin,  Schlesinger;  Polish  Melodies  by  Chopin,  ditto;  Soirees  de  Ros- 
sini, 14  Numbers,  Mainz,  Schott;  National  Melodies  from  the  Ukraine 
and  Poland,  Leipzig,  Kistner;  Soirees  de  Mercadante,  6  Numbers; 
Soirees  de  Donizetti,   3  Numbers,  Mainz,   Schott;    National  Melodies 


—     187     — 

from  Russia,  Hamburg,  Cranz;  ditto  from  B^arn,  2  Numbers,  Mainz^ 
Schott.— A  similar  species  of  transcriptions  is  formed  by  tlie  Vahes- 
Caprices  cVopres  F.  Schubert  (Vienna,  Spina),  overflowing  witli  fun 
and  frolic,  wit  and  humor;  and  finally,  the  effective  transcriptions 
of  Seb.  Bach's  6  Tr eludes  and  Fugues  for  the  Organ  (Fed.  and  Man.) 
Leipzig,  Peters. — Novel  in  form  and  exciting  in  development  are  the 
following  original  compositions:  Episodes  from  Lenau's  Faust;  Nlicht- 
licher  Zug  and  Mr.phisto -Wdlser  (J.  Schuberth  &  Co.);  the  Elegies 
and  the  Legends  (C.  F.  Kalmt);  Ave  Maria,  Waldesrausc1ie» ,  and 
Gnomenreigen  in  the  Lebert-Stark  Pianoforte  Method  (J.  Gr.  Cotta). 

In  sensitive,  glowing  colors  appear  the  following  works  arranged 
by  Liszt  for  Pianoforte  and  Orchestra:  Weber's  Polonaise  in  E,  Berlin, 
Schlesinger;  Schubert's  Fantasia  m  C,  Vienna,  Spina;  Capriccio  alia 
turca  on.  motives  from  Beethoven's  Ruins  of  Athens;  Hungarian 
Bhapsodg  in  ^-minor;  and  also  two  grand  Pianoforte  Concertos,  pro- 
ducts of  most  ardent  inspiration,  in  E't?  (Vienna,  Haslinger),  and  in  A 
(Mainz,  Schott),  which,  by  reason  of  their  lofty  and  intensely  effect- 
ive spirit  and  their  supremely  beautiful  form,  must  be  reckoned 
among  the  grandest,  most  powerful,  and  brilliant  works  in  Pianoforte 
Literature. 

As  Chopin  glorified  his  own  nation  in  his  moving  Polonaises  and 
Mazurkas,  Liszt  most  faithfully  portrayed  and  sang  the  nature  and 
doings,  the  life  and  love  of  the  Gypsies  of  his  native  land,  in  a 
series  of  attractive  musical  poems  issued  under  the  title  of  Bhapso- 
dies  hongroiscs.  We  unfortunately  possess  no  complete  edition  of 
the  same;  for  Nos.  1  and  2  were  published  by  Senff,  Leipzig,  Nos.  3 
to  10  by  Haslinger  of  Vienna,  and  Nos.  11  to  15  by  Schlesinger  of 
Berlin.  Liszt  lived  at  various  times  for  consideral)le  periods  among 
the  Gypsies  in  Hungary;  and  these  untamed  children  of  Nature,  too, 
were  carried  away  by  the  might  of  his  music,  and  admired  and 
revered  him  wholly.  His  studies  on  their  character  are  found  in  the 
book:  Des  Bohemiens  et  de  leur  nmsique  en  Hongrie,  Paris,  Bourdil- 
liat  et  Cie.  (German  by  Peter  Cornelius,  Pesth,  Heckenast).  This 
interesting  work  forms  a  commentary,  so  to  speak,  on  his  Hungarian 
Rhapsodies,  as  he  himself  suggests  in  its  course  as  follows:  "The 
charm  which  the  music  of  the  Gypsies  has  exercised  upon  us  since 
childhood,  familiarity  with  its  peculiar  sound  and  sense,  comparable 
to  no  other  kind,  this  gradual  penetration  into  the  secret  of  its  life- 
springs,  the  ever- deeper  insight  into  the  nature  of  its  form  and  the 
necessity   of  its  perseverance  in  an  eccentricity,   any   abatement   of 


—     188     — 

which  would  mean  a  renunciation  of  its  character,  a  denial  of  its 
individuality,  naturally  led  us  very  early  to  adapt  many  of  its  frag- 
ments for  the  pianoforte.  And  leisure  hours  soon  amassed  a  goodly 
number  of  such  adaptations,  yet  quite  without  an  ulterior  aim.  But 
very  far  from  satisfying  our  penchant  or  noting  a  diminution  of  our 
interest,  we  grew  more  and  more  absorbed  in  the  work,  and  felt  an 
ever-growing  desire  to  transfer  to  our  instrument  the  eloquent  ad- 
monitions, the  wierd  effusions,  the  reveries,  revels,  and  extravagances 
of  this  coy  Muse.  But  with  each  step  forward  the  task  waxed  im- 
measurably; at  last  no  stopping-place,  no  bounds  could  be  found.  A 
crushing  load  of  material  weighed  us  down.  Then  arose  the  need 
of  comparing,  choosing,  polishing,  setting  off!  And  amidst  these 
endeavors  the  conviction  strengthened  within  us,  that  these  frag- 
mentary, scattered  melodies  were  the  wandering,  floating,  nebulous 
parts  of  a  great  Whole,  that  they  fully  answered  the  conditions  for 
the  production  of  an  harmonious  unity,  which  would  comprehend  the 
very  flower  of  their  essential  properties,  their  most  unique  beauties, 
and  which,  on  the  strength  of  the  internal  confirmation  attempted 
by  us  at  the  beginning  of  these  pages,  might  be  regarded  as  a 
kind  of  national  epic,  sung  by  this  people,  who  in  all  their  ways 
follow  an  unwonted,  unusual  course,  in  an  unwonted  and  unusual 
form  and  speech.  From  this  new  point  of  view  we  soon  perforce 
became  aware,  that  the  wellnigh  innumerably  different  forms  of  the 
Gypsy  music,  such  as  odes,  dithyrambs,  elegies,  ballads,  idyls,  gazels, 
distiches,  hymns  of  war,  burial  songs,  love-songs,  and  drinking-rimes, 
might  be  united  to  one  homogeneous  body,  to  a  complete  work,  its 
divisions  to  be  so  arranged  that  each  song  would  form  at  once  a 
whole  and  a  part,  which  might  be  severed  from  the  rest  and  be 
examined  and  enjoyed  by  and  for  itself,  but  which  would  none  the 
less  belong  to  the  whole  through  the  close  affinity  of  subject-matter, 
the  similarity  of  its  inner  nature,  and  unity  in  development.  The 
isolated  fragments  of  Gypsy  music  already  published  by  us  were 
subjected  to  renewed  scrutiny;  they  were  modified,  blended,  com- 
bined, conformably  to  our  design  of  a  Whole,  which  thus  presented 
in  its  structure  a  work  approximately  realizing  our  idea  of  a  Gypsy 
Epic,  such  as  our  fancy  had  portrayed". 

Liszt's  earlier-mentioned  reform  In  the  holding  of  the  hand  in 
piano-playing  is  propagated  by  his  numerous  pupils;  his  peculiar 
fingering,  aiming  foremostly  at  a  more  vigorous  touch  and  a 
more    even   execution   of  passages,   we   often   find   indicated   where 


—     189     — 

necessary  in  his  pianoforte  compositions.  The  earliest  style  of 
holding  the  hand  was  such  that  the  player,  whose  elbows  when 
quietly  seated  before  the  keyboard  were  below  the  level  of 
the  keys,  was  fairly  obliged  to  draw  the  latter  down  with  the 
fingers;  a  coin  laid  upon  the  back  of  the  hand  would  therefore  have 
slid  off  into  the  player's  lap,  or  to  the  floor.  Much  the  same  posture  we 
see,  for  example,  on  the  title-page  of  the  Theoricum  opus  musicse 
disciplinse,  (second  edit,  1492),  by  Franchino  Gafori,  this  celebrated 
musician  being  seated  at  the  organ.  In  the  earliest  clavier  works, 
which  down  to  Frescobaldi  resembled  the  scores  for  four-part  vocal 
music,  the  fingering  followed  as  best  it  might  the  progression  of  the  four 
independent  parts,  and  the  black  keys,  whose  tones  sounded  tolerably 
pure  only  in  certain  keys  on  account  of  the  prevailing  system  of 
unequal  temperament,  were  therefore  used  but  seldom.  The  fingering 
did  not  become  more  difficult  until  compositions  intended  for  the 
clavier  began  to  be  written  with  livelier  runs  and  passages,  and 
when,  after  Seb.  Bach's  appearance,  the  introduction  of  the  equal 
temperament  made  it  possible  to  use  the  black  keys  like  the  others. 
Before  Bach's  time,  the  thumb  was  employed  only  in  wide  stretches; 
it  was  therefore  allowed  to  hang  down,  so  as  not  to  impede  the 
stiffly  outstretched  fingers.  For  the  clavier  works  of  Baeh,  however, 
which  were  written  in  all  keys,  the  thumb  was  "suddenly  elevated 
from  its  former  inactivity  to  the  position  of  chief  finger".  (Essay  on 
the  true  Method  of  playing  the  Clavier).  In  Germany,  C.  Ph.  E.  Bach 
was  the  first  who  attempted  to  reduce  his  father's  fingering  to  rule. 
In  the  work  just  alluded  to  (third  edition,  1787)  he  says:  The  hands 
should  be  held  suspended  above  the  keyboard  in  a  horizontal  posi- 
tion. One  should  play  with  bent  fingers,  without  nervous  straining; 
the  commoner  this  fault,  the  more  heed  should  be  given  to  it.  For 
whoever  plays  with  straight  fingers  and  tense  nerves  removes  the 
other  fingers,  by  reason  of  their  length,  too  far  from  the  thumb, 
which  on  the  contrary  ought  constantly  to  keep  as  close  as  may  be 
to  the  hand;  they  thus  quite  prevent  this  chief  finger  from  doing  its 
duty.  The  black  keys  are  shorter  and  lie  higher  than  the  white, 
and  therefore  naturally  belong  to  the  three  longest  fingers.  "Hence 
arises  the  first  principal  rule,  that  the  little  finger  should  touch  the 
black  keys  seldom,  and  the  thumb  do  this  only  in  case  of  necessity." 
Where  the  fingers  do  not  suffice,  the  thumb  is  tui-ned  under,  being 
naturally  designed  thereto  by  its  flexibility  and  shortness.  "Passing 
over  is  effected  by  the  other  fingers,  and  is  facilitated  by  passing  a 


--     190     — 

longer  finger  over  a  shorter  one  or  over  the  thumb,  when  the  fingers 
come  to  an  end,  as  it  were.  —  The  passing  of  the  thumb  under  the 
little  finger,  of  the  second  finger  over  the-  third,  of  the  third  over 
the  second,  the  fourth  over  the  fifth,  or  of  the  little  finger  over  the 
thumb,  is  reprehensible." 

According  to  dementi's  method  a  silver  dollar  laid  on  the  back 
of  the  hand  should  not  fall  off  while  playing.  Francesco  Pollini 
taught,  on  the  contrary,  in  his  Clavier  Method  (1811)  mentioned 
earlier,  that  the  hand  should  be  held  in  a  horizontal  position,  but 
arched  (rotondata).  And  finally,  Liszt  did  not  hold  his  hand  hori- 
zontally, but  with  the  wrist  higher  than  the  front  part,  so  that  a 
coin  laid  on  the  back  would  slide  down  to  the  keyboard.  If  the 
fingers  then  rise  to  the  height  of  the  wrist,  they  gain  all  the  more 
sti'ength  for  the  dowa-stroke  upon  the  keys.  Liszt  sometimes  played 
a  strongly  marked  series  of  tones  with  the  more  powerful  second 
finger  alone,  and  a  similar  octave  passage  with  the  thumb  and  the 
third  or  fourth  fingers;  for  a  sustained  or  loud  trill  he  used  not  only 
two  adjoining  finger,  but  pairs  separated  by  others,  such  as  fii'st 
and  third,  or  third  and  fifth;  the  right  hand  executed  such  trills  in 
suitable  places  even  with  the  following  fingering:  1-4  2-3,  1-4  2-3,  etc. 
He  likewise  produced  a  sharp  trill  in  sixths  or  thirds  by  playing  the 
main  notes  with  the  right  hand,  and  the  subsidiary  notes  with  the 
left,  with  equal  power.  For  a  passage  regularly  repeated  in  different 
octaves,  he  chose  the  most  convenient  fingering  in  one  octave  and 
repeated  the  same  in  the  following  octaves,  when  it  frequently  oc- 
curs, in  opposition  to  earlier  rules,  that  the  thumb  is  passed  under 
the  fifth  finger,  or  the  latter  over  the  thumb.  In  his  compositions, 
besides,  we  meet  with  chords  whooj  width  or  full  harmony  seems  to 
require  the  co-operation  of  both  hands,  whereas  one  of  the  latter  is 
at  the  same  time  occupied  in  another  way.  In  this  case  they  are 
to  be  executed  as  broken  or  arpeggio'd  chords  by  an  accelerated 
crossing  of  the  hands.  He  brings  out  two  motives,  at  first  treated 
separately,  together  further  on;  and,  finally,  sometimes  performs  a 
melody  in  three  or  fourfold  octave  unisons,  while  interweaving  the 
same  with  the  most  brilliant  passages,  taking  up  the  whole  range  of 
the  keyboard,  or  accompanied  by  fullest-toned  harmonies.  The  full 
harmony  of  the  chords  written  by  Liszt  is  produced  especially  by 
the  favorable  acoustic  setting  of  their  parts,  in  which  the  tone-waves 
formed  can  propagate  in  freest  vibration  all  accompanying  overtones 
and  tones  of  combination.     Each   of  Liszt's    pianoforte    compositions 


—     191     — 

also  proffers  us  new  combinations  and  striking  effects  of  tone,  many 
of  wMch  years  since  became  the  common  pvopcity  of  all  pianists. 
But  no  «jne  can  form  a  definite  conception  of  his  marvellous  perfor- 
mances except  those,  who  have  themselves  heard  him;  Robert  Schu- 
mann, alter  hearing  him  in  1840  at  Leipzig,  pointedly  writes  in  a 
long  article  on  his  playing:  "The  instrument  glows  and  flames  under 
its  master  —  it  is  no  longer  pianoforte -playing  of  this  or  that  kind, 
but  the  veriest  manifestation  of  a  dauntless  character,  to  whom,  for 
ruling  and  conquering,  Fate  for  once  allotted  instead  of  dangerous 
implements  the  peaceful  ones  of  Art." 

[Liszt  lived  out  his  life  of  nearly  75  years  fully  and  wholly, 
creating,  teaching,  and  helping  to  his  last  breath.  In  the  churchyard 
at  Bayreuth  there  stands,  since  Oct.  22,  1887  (his  77th  birthday),  a 
mausoleum  over  the  grave  of  the  artist  whose  name  and  fame  filled 
the  world,  and  are  written  in  indelible  characters  in  the  book  of  the 
history  of  Art.  Among  the  works  left  by  Liszt  is  a  method  of  study 
in  three  volumes,  which  has  been  issued  under  Alex.  Winterberger's 
supervision  by  J.  Schuberth  in  Hamburg.  Difficulties  with  the  pu1> 
lisher  prevented  the  intended  earlier  publication  of  the  work,  already 
prepared  for  the  press;  Liszt's  pleasure  in  the  work  was  spoiled,  and 
thus  a  final  revision  of  the  same  by  the  master  himself  was  not 
undertaken.  Furthermore,  a  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  ^-minor  with 
string  orchestra  has  been  found,  which  Liszt  presumably  composed 
during  his  stay  in  Switzerland  (1835 — 1840).  This  work,  named  by 
himself  '^MaUdiction",  appears  to  have  been  left  unfinished,  as  the 
score  is  not  completed  for  full  orchestra,  and  the  pianoforte  part 
shows  a  great  number  of  alterations  and  variants  in  Liszt's  hand.  In 
form  it  resembles  the  ^-major  Concerto,  and  contains  many  beauti- 
ful, poetical  touches.  Liszt's  pregnant  writings,  done  into  German 
by  L.  Eamann,  have  been  publislied  in  six  volumes  by  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel,  and  mirror  the  wide  knowledge,  the  rich  experience  in  art, 
the  lofty  artistic  standpoint,  and  the  noble  heart  of  this  unmatched 
genius,  so  worthy  of  reverence  both  as  an  artist  and  as  a  man,  in 
a  truly  dazzling  light.  A  minute  and  intelligently  wiitten  biosrraphy 
of  Liszt,  by  Lina  Ramann,  has  been  published  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel 
in  2  volumes.     O.  L.l 


—     192 


Liszt's  Pupils  and  Contemporaries. 

Among  the  pupils  of  tlie  universally  revered  master,  Franz  Liszt, 
the  one  most  nearly  approaching  him  in  truth  and  clearness  of  con- 
ception, in  nobility  and  finish  of  execution,  is 

Hans  von  Biilow, 
born  at  Dresden  in  the  year  1830.  He  has  also  published  a  succes- 
sion of  brilliant  salon  pieces  and  more  serious  characteristic  works, 
which  exhibit  him,  in  this  aspect  as  well,  as  a  thoroughly  trained 
musician  with  an  exquisite  sense  of  the  Beautiful,  We  mention: 
MarcJie  hongroise,  op.  3^i(Mainz,  Schott);  Reverie  fantastiqiie,  op.  7 
(Breslaii,  Leuckart);  Ballade,  op.  11  (Mainz,  Schott);  Au  sortir  du  hal, 
op.  24  (Bote  &  Bock);  I  Carnivale  de  Milano,  op.  21  (Barth.  Senff); 
and  a  charmfuUy  sparkling,  flower- scented,  deftly  and  airily  flitting 
"Elfenjagd"  (Leipzig,  G.  Heinze).  Further,  in  his  paraphrase  of 
Wagner's  ''Tristan  and  Isolde",  Biilow  has  produced  a  master-piece 
in  pianoforte  arrangement.  Not  only  are  the  various  orchestral  effects 
reproduced  in  piano-style  with  a  wealth  of  brilliant  colors,  but  not  one 
of  the  often  inti'icately  interwoven  melodies  of  this  overflowing  score 
is  slighted.  All  virtuosi  preceding  him  had  celebrated  their  most 
signal  triumphs  by  the  performance  of  their  own  original  works;  but 
he,  familiar  with  both  early  and  recent  clavier  literature,  gifted  with 
an  astounding  memory  and  a  surprising  keenness  of  conception,  re- 
solved to  win  renown  through  the  vivid  interpretation  of  masterworks 
of  the  past  and  present.  And  he  became  the  miraculous  resuscitator 
of  the  creations  of  the  venerable  Sebastian  Bach,  the  profoundest 
expounder  of  Beethoven's  last  revelations,  the  most  fiery  declaimer 
of  the  fantastic  tone -poems  of  Franz  Liszt.  As  the  latter  had  de- 
livered all  his  performances  free  from  memory,  Biilow  in  like  manner 
so  assimilates  the  compositions  of  the  masters  of  his  choice,  that  he 
plays  them  as  if  improvising  in  inspired  moments.  He  reproduces 
the  Preludes,  Fugues,  and  Suites  of  Bach  and  Handel  with  the  full 
vigor  and  independence  of  the  parts;  interprets  Emanuel  Bach  and 
Mozart  in  all  their  freshness  and  amiability;  reveals  the  depth  and 
sublimity  of  the  gloomful  Beethoven;  attracts  us  sympathetically 
through  Chopin's  soulful  poems,  leads  us  with  Schubert's  charming 
melodies  into  the  swirl  of  the  brilliant  ball-room,  and  arouses  our 
warmest  enthusiasm  by  the  dazzling  tone-colors  and  storm-swept 
passages   of  Liszt's   Fantasias.     In    the    rich    and    choice   programs 


—     193     — 

of  his  pianoforte  recitals  Biilow  sets  himself  the  loftiest  tasks, 
and  in  his  execution  of  the  same  excels  all  his  predecessors  in  this 
field.  We  have  heard  him  play,  besides  Liszt's  Etudes,  concert  para- 
phrases, and  Hungarian  Rhapsodies,  the  pathetic  Sonata  in  ^-minor 
from  memory,  faithfully  and  in  finished  beauty.  He  has  also  played 
Beethoven's  33  Variations  op.  120,  and  even  the  same  master's  last 
five  Sonatas  op.  101,  106,  109,  110  and  111  in  a  concert  given  at 
Berlin  in  1878,  in  such  a  fashion  that  the  large  audience  followed 
the  thrilling  delivery  of  these  romantically  dramatic  poems  with 
ever-growing  excitement. 

Billow,  who  besides  his  high  pianistic  attainments  is  also  an 
eminent  conductor,  having  among  other  things  brought  the  art  of 
conducting  without  score  into  vogue,  has  held  in  turn  the  position  of 
Kapellmeister  at  Munich,  Hanover,  Meiningen,  St.  Petersburg,  and 
Berlin;  his  own  pianoforte  recitals,  beginning  with  a  concert -tour 
through  Germany  and  Austria  in  1853,  have  won  him  world-wide 
renown.  Among  his  pupils,  several  are  distinguished  as  virtuosi 
or  teachers,  above  all  Frits  Hartvigson  in  London,  Max  Schwarz  in 
Frankfort,  Mr.  Hatton,  Heiurich  Barth  in  Berlin,  Frederic  Lammond 
in    Glasgow,    Miss    Anna   Haasters    in    Cologne,    and    others.      His 

fellow-pupil  „     .  ^ 

Karl  Tausig 

(1841 — 1871),  whose  career  ended  just  as  he  had  reached  the  pin- 
nacle of  virtuosity,  was  original  in  another  way.  Hardly  any  other 
pianist  will  ever  exhibit  even  the  will  to  reach  the  same  perfection. 
In  strength,  endurance,  and  precision  he  surpassed  all  his  rivals. 
The  tasks  which  he  set  himself  were  always  accomplished  in  a 
wonderful  manner.  He  relieved  the  romantically  sentimental  Chopin 
of  his  Welfsclmier^ ,  and  showed  him  in  his  pristine  creative  vigor 
and  wealth  of  imagination.  He  led  his  hearers  into  the  awful  depths 
of  Beethoven's  works,  laid  bare  new  veins  of  precious  metals  in 
their  gloomy  shafts,  and  displayed  the  treasures  so  found  in  the 
most  brilliant  fire  and  magical  splendor  of  color.  Tausig's  Nouvelles 
Soirees  de  Vienne,  published  in  Vienna  and  dedicated  to  his  teacher 
Franz  Liszt,  are  full  of  the  most  astonishing  flashes  of  fancy;  they 
pursue  with  wanton  humor  the  Strauss  waltzes  on  which  they  are 
built  up,  bombarding  them  with  most  graceful  banterings,  piquant 
passages,  and  striking  harmonies.*  In  1866  Tausig  founded  in  Berlin 
a  '^SchuU  des  Hoheren  Clavierspiels" ,  in  which  at  the   outset  Franz 

*  Comp.  "Der  letzte  Virtuoso",  by  C.  F.  Weitzmann.    Leipzig,  C.  F.  Kahnt. 

13 


—     194    — 

Bendel,  and  later  Adolf  Jensen,  Louis  Ehleit,  Carl  Bial,  Franz  Kroll, 
and  Otto  Lessmann  were  engaged  as  teachers.  The  most  distin- 
guished pupils  issuing-  from  this  school  were  Rafaell  Joseffy  (b.  1852 
at  Pressburg,  now  living  in  New  York),  Max  Pinner  (b.  1851  at 
New  York,  d.  1887  in  Davos),  Oskar  Paif  (Berlin),  Oskar  Beringcr 
(London),  Vera  Timanoff  (St.  Petersburg),  Gustav  Weber  (d.  1887  in 
Zurich,  published  a  valuable  Pianoforte  Quartet),  and  others. 

Other  of  Liszt's  most  eminent  pupils  are  Hans  von  Bronsart 
(b.  1830  in  Berlin),  whose  Trio  in  G-minor  for  Pianoforte,  Violin, 
and  Violoncello  shows  the  thoroughly  trained  musician,  and  whose 
Pianoforte  Concerto  in  J^Jj-minor  is  also  valuable  musically;— Dionys 
Pruckner,  who  may  be  termed  the  classicist  among  more  recent 
pianists,  in  that  he  combines  faultless  accuracy  of  execution,  uncom- 
mon fullness  of  tone,  and  complete  technical  mastership  with  measured 
repose  in  the  clear  and  organically  contrasted  exposition  of  the  musical 
contents  of  the  work  in  hand.  These  refinements  have  won  for  his 
playing  not  only  most  gratifying  recognition  from  the  narrower  circles 
of  thorough  musicians,  but  likewise  most  brilliant  successes  in  his 
public  performances  at  Vienna,  Pesth,  Munich,  Stuttgart,  and  other  places; 
—  Franz  Bendel,  who,  both  by  his  inspired  performances  and  several 
attractive  and  genial  compositions,  has  won  a  good  reputation.  To 
the  works  already  mentioned  may  be  added  an  extremely  interesting 
JBdllade  (op.  31,  Berlin,  Challier),  and  among  his  posthumous  works, 
published  by  the  same  house,  a  very  melodious  Sonata  for  Pianoforte 
and  Violin  in  i^-rainor,  and  an  animated  Trio  with  Violin  and  'Cello. 

To  this  list  may  be  added,  ns  worthy  fellow-pupils,  Franz  Kroll 
(1826—1877),  who  has  also  published  various  attractive  pianoforte 
works,  the  (already  mentioned)  composers  and  pianists  Salomon  Jadas- 
sohn, Xaver  Scharwenka,  and  Tlieodor  Patzenberger,  together  with 
the  artists  Karl  Klindworth  and  William  Mason;  and  finally  the  lat- 
terly very  prominent  artist  Giovanni  Sgambati  (b.  1843  in  Rome), 
who  has  written  1  Pianoforte  Quartet,  2  Quintets,  F-minor,  op.  7, 
^l?-niajor,  op.  5,  1  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  6r-minor,  op.  15,  and  many 
solo  pieces;  in  all  these  Sgambati  proves  himself  a  highly  gifted  and 
ingenious  composer,  formed  no  less  under  the  influence  of  the 
neo  German  tendency,  than  under  that  of  the  German  classics.  A  Pre- 
lude and  FiKjue  have  been  issued  by  Schott,  Mainz. 

Among  the  younger  masters  of  pianoforte-playing,  a  long  list  of 
fine  pupils  of  Liszt's  later  years  have  won  distinction  First  of  all 
we  must  name. 


—     195     — 

I\roritz  RoscMitlial.  Despite  Anton  Rubinstein's  dictum  (in  "Art 
and  Artists")  that  the  age  of  the  great  virtuosi  came  to  a  final  end 
with  Tausig's  death,  the  question  involuntarily  arises  on  hearing 
Rosenthal,  whether  such  perfect  finish  and  mastery  of  every  technical 
nuance  and  shade  of  expression  could  ever  have  been  surpassed. 
Rosenthal  was  born  at  Lemberg  in  18G2;  at  the  age  of  8  years  his 
natural  bent  for  pianoforte-playing  was  so  strongly  developed,  as  to 
attract  tlie  attention  and  secure  the  aid  of  Mikuli,  the  Director  of 
the  Lemberg  Conservatory.  Two  years  later,  Raphael  Joselfy  ini- 
tiated him  into  Tausig's  advanced  method,  and  at  the  age  of  14 
Rosenthal  gave  a  concert  in  Vienna,  playing  brilliant  compositions 
by  Weber,  Beethoven,  Chopin,  and  Liszt.  On  a  concert- tour  to 
Rdumania  he  earned  the  title  of  Royal  Pianist  to  the  Roumanian 
Court.  From  1878  onward,  Liszt  took  the  leading  part  in  his  pia- 
nistic  education;  Rosenthal  followed  the  master  on  his  yearly  migra- 
tions to  Weimar,  Pesth,  Vienna,  and  Rome,  a  faithful  companion 
until  Liszt's  death  in  1886.  Thus  he  is  both  one  of  the  last  and 
youngest  of  Liszt's  disciples  in  art.  In  1887  he  made  his  first  con- 
cert tournee  in  America,  and  has  since  then  created  a  furore  in 
various  European  musical  capitals.  He  throws  into  the  shade  all 
other  competitors  in  the  field  of  pianoforte  virtuosity,  whether  as 
regards  the  boldness,  the  fairly  astounding  accuracy,  or  the  over- 
whelming power  of  his  technical  performance.  But  he  commands, 
besides,  the  entire  scale  of  charming  effects  in  touch  and  tone,  and 
in  the  fullness  of  contrast  found  in  modern  romanticism  no  living 
contemporary  is  his  rival. 

Eug6ne  d'Al])crt  (b.  at  Glasgow  on  April  10,  1864)  is  the  son 
of  a  French  musician,  a  teacher  of  music  and  dancing  in  England, 
and  of  a  German  mother;  he  received  his  first  musical  instruction 
from  his  father,  then  becoming  a  pupil  of  Ernst  Pauer  in  London. 
In  the  year  1880  Hans  Richter  took  the  highly  talented  youth 
to  Vienna  and  introduced  him  to  Liszt,  under  whose  guidance 
the  unusual  gifts  of  the  young  artist  developed  with  astonishing 
rapidity.  d'Albert's  first  concerts  at  Vienna  and  Berlin  justly  created 
a  sensation,  for  the  effect  of  the  youthful  virtuoso's  brilliant  technique 
was  enhanced  by  the  intellectual  maturity  of  his  interpretations — an 
infallible  sign  of  one  of  those  few  chosen  from  among  many  that 
are  called.  1  Suite  in  five  movements  for  Pianoforte,  op.  1  (Bote  & 
Bock),  and  1  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  5-minor,  Songs,  Piano-pieces, 
2  Overtures,  etc.,  reveal  the  fine  creative  faculty  of  the  young  artist, 


—     196     — 

who  iu  the  course  of  a  few  years  has  won  European  renown.  In 
1886  cV Albert  settled  in  Eisenach.  (It  may  be  of  interest  to  note,  in 
view  of  his  exuberant  vigor  and  great  powers  of  endurance,  that 
d'Albert  is  a  strict  vegetarian). 

Among  Liszt's  younger  pupils  we  name  further  Arthur  Fried- 
heim  (b.  Oct.  26,  1859  at  St.  Petersburg),  who  for  many  years  pro- 
fitted  by  his  master's  instruction  in  Weimar,  Eome,  and  Pesth,  and 
in  regard  to  brilliancy  and  precision  of  technique  has  few  rivals. 
He  is  in  the  main  a  Liszt  player,  and  with  reference  to  the  latter's 
works  is  a  reliable  maintainer  of  the  direct  tradition. — Bernhard 
Staveuhageu,  too  (b,  1862  at  Greiz),  after  finishing  his  course  of 
study  in  the  HocltsclmJe  at  Berlin,  and  masterfully  developing  his 
artistic  individuality  from  1885  under  Liszt's  influence,  speedily 
gained  a  high  reputation  in  Germany  and  England.  Stavenhagcn's 
style  is  distinguished  for  brilliant  technique  paired  with  great  warmth 
of  expression,  which  advantages  he  shares  with  Emil  Sauer,  at  present 
living  in  Dresden.  The  latter,  like  another  Liszt  pupil  of  the  younger 
generation,  Alexander  von  Siloti,  had  previously  studied  under 
the  guidance  of  Nicolas  Kubinstein  at  Moscow.  Other  concert  players 
of  note  are  Alfred  Keisenauer  of  Konigsberg,  Conrad  Ansorge  of 
Weimar  (b.  1862  in  Lichen),  Max  van  de  Sandt,  Carl  Schuler,  Ber- 
trand  Roth  of  Dresden,  Carl  Pohlig,  Jules  de  Zarembski  (b.  1854  in 
Schitomir,  Eussia,  d.  Sept.  15,  1885  in  Brussels  as  the  successor  of 
Louis  Brassin  at  the  Conservatory). 

As  well  known  as  these,  though  in  a  different  field,  is  Martin 
Krause  of  Leipzig,  whose  celebrity  as  a  teacher  of  the  pianoforte  is 
due  mainly  to  his  faithful  and  scientifically  exact  maintainance  of 
the  Liszt  tradition.  —  Martin  Krause  was  born  at  Lobstedt  near 
Leipzig  in  1853,  of  a  musical  family;  under  the  strict  instruction  of 
his  father,  a  cantor,  he  was  able  at  the  age  of  8  to  play  the  organ 
in  church  and  transpose  chorales  at  sight,  and  on  Sundays  bore  a 
part  in  quartets  with  his  brothers  and  sisters.  When  13  years  old 
he  went  to  Borna,  attending  the  seminary  there  from  his  15tli  to 
I9th  year,  and  graduating  as  the  first  in  his  class  both  in  music  and 
letters.  Here  he  obtained,  from  the  piano-teacher  Fuchs,  the  first 
ideas  of  his  present  technique.  Coming  to  Leipzig,  he  attended  the 
University  down  to  his  22ud  year,  liearing  lectures  on  musical  and 
scientific  subjects;  he  also  entered  the  Conservatory  in  1873,  having 
instruction  from  Reinecke  and  Wenzel,  to  the  former  of  whom  he  owes 
his  initiation  into  the  "art  of  a  singing  execution",  and  to  the  latter 


—     197     — 

the  theory  of  "the  loose  wrist".  Undecided  whether  to  devote  him- 
self to  music  or  to  letters,  the  opinion  expressed  by  Eeinecke  after 
thoroughly  testing  Krause's  powers,  "that  it  had  never  before  been 
so  easy  for  him  to  give  advice  in  such  a  matter",  finally  turned  the 
scale  in  favor  of  art.  Six  months'  teaching  in  an  institute  at  Mon- 
treux,  Switzerland,  and  a  prolonged  stay  at  Detmold  as  private  tutor 
in  a  family,  where  he  had  a  chance  to  practise  from  8  to  11  hours 
daily,  so  far  ripened  his  powers,  that  in  1878  we  find  him  making 
a  concert-tour  in  various  towns  of  Holland  and  Germany,  meeting 
everywhere  with  great  success.  In  the  Spring  of  1880  he  returned 
to  Leipzig,  played  in  Bliithner's  hall,  but  then  broke  down  from  the 
strain  of  over-practice,  and  was  nervously  prostrated  for  two  years. 
He  made  Liszt's  acquaintance  in  1882,  and  played  before  him  for 
the  first  time  in  1883.  Thenceforward  he  was  often,  sometimes  for 
a  month  at  a  time,  in  Weimar,  in  constant  communication  with  the 
master  and  his  pupils,  eagerly  observant  of  the  minutest  technical 
and  artistic  details,  and  taking  infinite  pains  to  learn  from  the  older 
pupils  —  those  of  the  time  when  Liszt  still  gave  careful  instruc- 
tion in  the  minutiae  of  technique  —  all  details  which  could  throw 
light  on  the  master's  marvelous  facility.  Krause,  whose  own  spe- 
cialty as  a  player  was  Beethoven,  lays  peculiar  stress  on  Liszt's 
wonderful  faculty  for  recognizing  and  bringing  out  each  pupil's 
strong  point  and  special  capacity.  In  1885  Krause,  the  Russian 
Siloti,  Frau  Moran-Olden,  and  others  gave  two  grand  concerts  in 
Leipzig,  at  which  Liszt  was  present,  and  which  led  to  the  foundation 
that  same  year  of  the  famous  "Lisztverein"  (Liszt  Society),  of  which 
Krause  was  the  chief  promoter  and  is  still  the  chairman  and  manager. 
Since  that  year  he  has  been  settled  in  Leipzig  as  a  teacher  and 
writer,  and  in  both  these  branches  his  thorough  scientific  and  practical 
education  in  letters  and  art  afford  a  firm  foundation  for  a  growing^ 
reputation.  A  work  now  in  preparation  by  Krause  on  '"Phrasing" 
will  be  eagerly  awaited  by  all  knowing  his  views  on  this  highly 
important  subject  —  a  subject  which  the  abstruse  would-be  scientific 
treatment  frequently  accorded  it  only  tends  to  render  confusing  and 
disheartening  to  the  average  student-mind.  In  recognition  of  Krause's 
distinguished  services  to  the  cause  of  art,  the  Duke  of  Anhalt  bestow- 
ed on  him,  in  June,  1892,  the  title  of  Professor. 

Among  Liszt's  lady  pupils  we  name  Vera  Tiraanoff"  in  St.  Petersburg 
and  Martha  Remmert  in  Weimar,  who  have  won  recognition  as  virtuosi 
in  concerts  given  at  home  and  abroad.    Emma  Grosscurth  of  Cassel. 


—     198     — 

aud  Emma  Koch  of  Municli,  both  of  whom  finished  their  studies 
under  the  supervision  of  Liszt  and  Biilow,  hare  in  numerous  concerts 
proved  themselves  thoughtful  pianistes  of  good  musical  taste. 

Concerning  the  ladies,  the  term  "pupils  of  Liszt"  unhappily  took 
on  a  somewhat  unpleasant  aftertaste  during  the  last  years  of  the 
master's  life,  a  large  number  of  immature  or  mediocrely  endowed 
ladies  having  walked  through  the  salon  of  the  growingly  indulgent 
artist,  in  order  thereafter  to  give  themselves  out  in  highly  inflated 
puffs  not  only  for  pupils,  but  for  '-favorite  pupils",  of  Liszt.  Thus  it 
is  too  easily  explainable,  that  critics  and  public  alike  finally  became 
suspicious  of  the  once  so  honorable  title;  still,  enough  genuine  pupils 
of  either  sex  uphold  their  master's  memory,  through  the  striving  to 
serve  true  art  in  his  spirit  with  seriousness  and  honest  zeal. 


Raff,  Brahms,  and  Rubinstein. 

These  three  masters  elevated  themselves  to  the  culminating  point 
of  their  productivity',  not  by  pianoforte  works  alone,  but  also  in  par- 
ticular by  larger  sacred,  dramatic,  and  symphonic  compositions.  These 
larger  works  are  among  the  finest  of  modern  times;  a  selection  from 
their  pianoforte  compositions  has  for  a  considerable  period  adorned 
the  racks  of  our  foremost  pianists.  Joachim  Raff  (b.  on  May  27, 
1822,  in  Lachen  on  the  Lake  of  Zurich,  d.  June  24/25,  1882,  at 
Frankfort)  made  no  name  as  a  pianoforte  virtuoso,  yet  his  works  in 
this  category  always  show  the  most  convenient  piano -style,  and  all 
display  a  teeming  imagination  and  thorough  musical  science,  intelli- 
gently employed  in  a  free  and  unconstrained  way.  For  a  time  he 
dwelt  near  Liszt  in  Weimar,  then  settled  in  Wiesbaden,  and  in  1877 
was  appointed  to  tlie  directorship  of  the  Hoch  Conservatory  at  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main.  His  diversified  piano-pieces  are  for  the  most  part, 
both  in  regard  to  conception  and  execution,  accessible  not  merely  to 
the  grasp  and  powers  of  a  virtuoso,  but  to  any  piauist  of  ability. 

Attractive  grace  and  freshness  are  exhaled,  for  example,  by 
Raff's  "Friihlingshoten",  12  piano -pieces,  op.  55  (Leipzig,  J.  Schu- 
berth  &  Co.).  The  first  piece,  Wintcrruhe,  bears  us  to  the  sociable 
hearth  of  a  cozy  room,  where  we  listen  to  the  tender  converse  of  a 
happy  couple.  In  the  second  piece  Spring  is  ushered  in  with  all 
his  songful  messengers  and  fragrant  flower-bells,  repeating  more  and 
more   urgently  the   cry:    "Die   Fenster    auf,    die  Herzen  auf!"    (The 


—     199     — 

windows  ope,  your  hearts  ope  wide).  In  No.  3  we  hear  an  earnest 
chorale  in  the  Doric  mode;  then  follows  a  warmer,  livelier  movement, 
wherein  the  theme  of  "the  Oath"  hears  a  warning  part  as  canto 
fermo.  No.  4,  with  its  animated  rhythms  and  exciting  suspensions 
and  deceptive  progressions,  constantly  increases  our  feeling  of  "Un- 
rest"; in  No.  5  a  sweetly  caressing  melody  seeks  to  bring  about  a 
"Reconciliation"  between  the  resentful  lovers,  but  No.  6  renews  the 
quarrel,  gathering  up  its  threads  in  a  lively  fugue.  Like  happily 
and  artistically  treated  character-pieces  are  also  found  in  the  second 
half  of  the  work,  which  contains  very  interesting  figuration.  With 
equally  loving  care  are  also  wrought  tlie  piano-pieces  of  the  follow- 
ing collections:  Album  lyriqite,  op.  17  (J.  Schuberth  &  Co.);  Schiveizer- 
tveisen,  op.  60  in  9  books  (ditto);  12  Fiomances  en  forme  d'Etudes, 
op.  8,  Breitkopf  &  Hilrtel;  Angelens  Ictzter  Tag  ini  Klostcr,  a  cycle 
of  epico-lyric  fragments  for  Pianoforte,  op.  27,  Leipzig,  Kistner.  Of 
his  other  pianoforte  works  we  mention  several  books  of  finely  wrought 
Suites,  published  in  Winterthur  by  Rieter-Biedermann,  and  in  Leipzig 
by  Peters;  Scherzo,  op.  3,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  4  Galops  hrillants, 
op.  5  ditto;  Morceau  mstrnctif,  Fantaisie  et  Variations  brillantes, 
op.  6,  ditto;  Impromptu,  op.  9,  ditto;  Capricietto,  op.  40,  Kistner; 
Romance,  op.  41,  ditto.  The  works  following  require  the  skill  of  a 
virtuoso:  Hommago  au  Neoromantisme,  grand  Capriccio,  op.  10,  Breit- 
kopf &  Hartel;  Sonate  arec  fugue  in  JS't?-miuor,  op.  14,  ditto;  Capriccio, 
op.  64;  Three  pianoforte  soli.  Ballade,  Scherzo,  and  Metamorphoses, 
op.  74  (dedicated  to  Hans  v.  Biilow)77.  Schuberth  &  Co.;  and  Chant 
de  VOndm,  grande  Etude  de  I'Arpeggio-Tremolando,  op.  83,  Leipzig, 
Peters; — whereas  the  charming  13  Fiano- pieces  of  the  set  op.  75 
(Leipzig,  Kistner),  are  dedicated  "to  little  hands".  Raff  shows  him- 
self a  master  of  the  broader  forms  in  his  five  grand  Sonatas  with 
Violin,  op.  59,  73,  78,  128,  and  129;  also  in  the  Trio,  op.  102,  and 
the  Quintet  with  Strings,  op.  107  (all  publ.  by  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.), 
and  in  the  two  Quartets  with  Strings,  op.  202,  two  books  (Leipzig, 
Siegel).  We  must  also  mention  the  12  Morceaux  a  4  mains,  op.  82, 
separate  or  in  2  sets;  8  SonatHJen,  op.  99;  Beuno  Caprices  de  concert, 
op.  Ill  (all  Leipzig,  J.  Schubertli  &  Co.);  Erinnerung  an  Vcnedig, 
op.  187,  6  books;  Beisehildcr  for  4  hands,  op.  160,  10  books  (botli 
publ.  by  Siegel,  Leipzig);  Vom  Bhein,  op.  134  (Fr.  Kistner);  Am 
Giesshach,  op.  88;  La  Git  ana,  op.  110  (Rieter-Biedermann);  Polka 
de  la  Bcinc,  op.  35  (C.  F.  Peters),  Orientales,  op.  175,  8  books 
(Leipzig,  Rob.  Forberg). — Most  of  the  earlier  works  here  named  have 


—     200     — 

been  revised  and  polished  by  Eaff  himself,  so  that  we  now  possess 
them  in  carefully  finished  form.  [As  a  composer  Eaff  developed  un- 
common activity,  which  even  among  his  opponents  earned  him  the 
name  of  a  copious  writer.  While  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  among 
his  works  many  are  found  (especially  among  the  minor  ones  for 
pianoforte)  which  hardly  awakened,  far  less  survived  a  passing  inter- 
est, we  must  on  the  other  hand  take  note  of  the  fact,  that  Raff 
created  many  more  works  of  enduring  value,  in  which  he  ranks  with 
the  foremost  composers  of  our  time.  To  these  belong  many  of  his 
11  SympJionies  and  his  Overtures.  For  Pianoforte  and  Orchestra  he 
wrote  1  Concerto  in  C- minor,  op.  185,  1  Suite  in  £]?,  op.  200,  and 
the  Ode  au  Printemps,  op.  76,  the  Tagesseitcn  for  Pianoforte,  Chorus, 
and  Orchestra,  op.  209.  Of  his  later  works  we  note  1  'Cello  Sonata, 
op.  183,  1  CJiaconne^  op.  150,  and  1  Fantasia,  op.  207  a  for  2  Piano- 
fortes.    0.  L.] 

Johannes  Brahms  (b.  March  7,  1833  at  Altona),  at  the  instance 
of  Eobert  Schumann,  who  instantly  recognized  in  him  the  "musician 
by  the  grace  of  God",  came  forward  in  his  very  first  compositions 
as  one  of  the  boldest  neo-Eomanticists.  His  initial  work,  the  Sonata 
in  C  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel)  is  marked  by  exuberant,  glowing  flights  of 
fancy,  and  wild,  still  unchecked  youthful  vigor.  Only  by  degrees  has 
he  ordered  the  contents  of  his  pianoforte  works  more  intelligibly, 
discarded  the  harsh  modulations  and  progressions  found  therein,  and 
moulded  their  outward  form  to  one  more  practicable  for  the  player. 
This  improvement  already  begins  in  the  i^j;|-minor  Sonata,  op.  2 
(ditto),  and  the  Sclterzo  in  ^^?-niinor,  op.  4  (ditto),  and  shows  still 
more  in  the  Variations  ivith  a  Fugue  on  a  theme  by  Handel,  op.  24 
(ditto).  In  the  Waltzes  for  4  hands,  op.  39  (Eieter-Biedermann)  and 
also  in  the  Lieheslieder,  Waltzes  for  4  hands  with  mixed  chorus, 
op.  52  (Berlin,  Simrock),  he  already  presents  himself  in  his  full 
amiability  as  a  German  composer;  and  in  the  two  books  of  Studies, 
Variations  on  a  theme  by  Paganini,  op.  35  (Eieter-Biedermann)  he 
proffers  the  player  a  bright  display  of  })rilliant  pyrotechnic  passages, 
many-colored  figuration,  and  surprising  effects  of  tone.  Of  his  larger 
compositions  not  yet  named  there  have  been  published,  by  Breit- 
kopf &  Hartel,  Trio  with  Violin  and  'Cello,  in  B,  op.  8;  Variations 
on  a  theme  by  Eobert  Schumann,  op.  9;  Ballades,  op.  10;  —  by 
B.  Senff,  Sonata  in  i^-minor,  op.  5; — by  Eieter-Biedermann,  Concerto 
with  Orchestra  in  7)-minor,  op.  15;  Variations  for  4  hands,  op.  23; 
Quintet  with  Strings  in  i^-minor,  op.  34;— by  Simrock  in  Bonn,  Quartet 


—     201     — 

with  Violin,  Viola,  and  'Cello  in  G- minor,  op.  25;  a  second  in  A, 
op.  26;  and  a  third  in  C-minor,  op.  60. — Brahms  has  also  published 
a  second  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  JB[?,  op.  83;  the  Bliapsodies,  op.  79; 
1  Violin  Sonata,  op.  78;  lAebeslieder  in  4  vocal  parts  with  piano- 
forte accompaniment  for  4  hands;  Hungarian  Dances  for  4  hands 
(4  hooks);  and  more  recently  1  Violin  Sonata,  1  'Cello  Sonata,  and 
1  Pianoforte  Trio  —  perhaps  the  most  clarified  of  all  his  works  as 
yet  published.  Concise,  though  finished  in  form,  they  are  marked  by 
a  wealth  of  melody  and  strong  natural  feeling. — For  the  introduction 
of  Brahms  to  wider  circles  of  musicians  and  the  public,  Hans  von 
Billow  has  rendered  services,  both  as  a  conductor  and  a  pianist, 
which  can  hardly  find  a  parallel. 

As  a  pianist,  Brahms  always  strives  to  set  the  merits  of  the 
composition  in  hand,  rather  than  his  own  virtuosity,  in  the  best  light; 
nor  does  he  deign  to  lend  to  the  products  of  his  own  fancy  a  dazz- 
ling outward  brilliancy;  for  solely  through  their  earnestly  and  warmly 
uttered  poetical  thoughts  should  they  seek  to  win  the  sympathies  of 
the  hearers,  and  will  therefore  always  find  more  favor  in  the  intimate 
and  congenial  circles  of  friends  than  before  larger  and  less  homo- 
geneous audiences. 

Thoughtful  and  artistic  in  his  compositions,  bold  and  vigorous 
in  his  pianoforte  performances— such  is  the  character  of  Anton  Rubin- 
stein (b.  Nov.  30,  1830,  at  Weehwotynetz  near  Jassy).  Furnished  by 
Nature  with  all  the  gifts  that  distinguish  the  master-musician,  he  so 
developed  them  through  untiring  industry  even  in  early  childhood, 
that  in  his  tenth  yeai-  he  was  already  prepared  to  undertake  a  pro- 
fessional journey  to  Paris  with  his  teacher,  Alexander  Villoing.  Here 
he  met  with  a  friendly  reception,  and  also  with  warm  interest  on  the 
part  of  the  hero  of  the  day,  Franz  Liszt,  whose  advice  and  instruction 
were  of  the  utmost  advantage  to  him  during  a  stay  in  Paris  of  a 
year  and  a  half.  Since  1848  he  has  lived  chiefly  in  St.  Petersburg, 
where  as  previously  mentioned,  he  founded  the  Conservatory  of  Music, 
and  whence  he  undertakes  frequent  tours,*  partly  for  the  rehearsal 
of  his  operas  and  other  large  works,  partly  to  appear  in  successful 
soirees,  or  to  arrange  the  publication  of  new  manuscripts.  In  1872 
he  travelled  through  America,  and  a  year  later  we  find  him  in  Italy 
on   a    concert-tour,    everywhere    winning    new    laurels.     Rubinstein 

*  Anton  Rubinstein  has  given  up  public  performances  as  a  pianist,  and 
at  present  devotes  Ms  energies  to  the  management  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Con- 
servatory.   0.  L. 


—     202     — 

moves  wherever  he  goes  in  the  highest  circles  of  society,  a  circum- 
stance which  affords  a  clew  to  the  subjects  of  many  of  his  works. 
The  larger  and  more  important  of  the  same  bear  the  character  of 
the  self-confident  favorite  of  the  aristocracy,  mastering  and  illuminat- 
ing his  surroundings  by  intellectual  flashes — of  the  potentate  often 
shaken  by  violent  storms,  but  always  escaping  unscathed  and  trium- 
phant. On  the  other  hand,  the  Albums  dedicated  to  the  fair  sex — 
the  Portraits,  Barcarolles,  and  Ball -scenes  —  exhibit  the  gallant, 
engaging,  and  refined  artist,  now  toying  and  chatting,  again  touching 
more  serious  topics,  but  always  in  a  winning  manner.  In  his  con- 
certs he  plays  by  preference  his  own  compositions,  the  larger  of 
which,  accompanied  by  the  orchestra,  often  upsurge  in  thundering 
billows,  then  suddenly  hold  the  hearers  spell-bound  by  a  wierd,  volJcs- 
tJmmlicJie  melody,  finally  dragging  them  again  into  the  wildest  swirl, 
or  leading  them  triumphantly  into  the  haven  ardently  sought. 

Rubinstein  has  published  5  Pianoforte  Concertos,  the  first  in  E 
(C.  F.  Peters),  the  second  in  F  (Vienna,  Spina),  the  third  in  G 
(Bote  &  Bock),  the  fourth,  a  special  favorite  with  pianists,  in  D-minor 
(B.  Senff),  and  the  fifth,  perhaps  the  grandest  of  them  all,  in  E\^ 
(ditto).  Of  forceful  grandeur  are  the  Fantasie  mit  OrcJiester  in  C, 
op.  84  (B,  Senflf),  the  Fantasie  for  two  pianofortes  in  F,  op.  73 
(ditto),  and  the  Sonata  for  4  hands  in  D,  op.  89  (ditto). — The  first 
of  the  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  solo,  in  F,  was  issued,  by  C.  F.  Peters; 
the  second  in  C-minor,  and  also  the  third  very  noteworthy  one  in  F, 
by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. — The  Sonata  with  Violin  in  C  was  published 
by  Peters,  that  in  ^- minor  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. — 1  Sonata  with 
Viola  in  F- minor,  and  two  with  'Cello,  have  been  issued  by  the 
latter  firm. — Trois  morceaux  de  salon  with  Violin,  ditto  with  Viola, 
and  still  others  with  'Cello,  were  issued  by  J.  Schuberth  &  Co. — Trios 
with  Violin  and  'Cello  have  been  published,  by  Fr.  Hofmeister,  B.  Senff, 
and  by  Lewy  in  Vienna;  —  1  Quintet  with  wind  instruments  by 
J.  Schuberth  &  Co.,  and  another  with  Strings  by  B.  Senff;  —  and  an 
Octet  with  strings  and  wind,  by  C.  F.  Peters. 

Of  the  numerous  salon  pieces  for  Pianoforte  solo,  op.  1,  Ondine, 
an  Etude  from  Rubinstein's  childhood,  is  published  by  Schlesinger  in 
ViGYWn^— Album  de  PcterJiof,  12  morceaux,  op.  75;  Fantaisie  in  J?-minor, 
op.  77;  the  very  interesting  MisccJl antes,  9  books,  op.  93,  the  last 
book  containing  the  charming  and  easily  executable  12  Miniatures; 
and  also  the  £tude  in  false  notes  in  C,  and  the  Valsc-Caprice  in  E\^^ 
by  B.  Senff;  —  Spina  in  Vienna  has  published  Russische  Fantasien, 


—     203     — 

op.  2;  the  mucli- played  Deux  Melodies,  op.  3;  the  Polish  Dcnices,. 
op.  5;  the  Acrostic  Laura,  op.  37,  and  several  other  piano-pieces. — 
Bote  &  Bock  have  published  the  very  popular  Album  de  dauscs 
popuJaircs,  op.  82,  in  a  new  edition  revised  by  the  composer;  also 
Le  JBal,  en  10  Num^ros;  the  attractive  fourth  Barcarole  in  G,  and 
Six  J^tudes.  —  SchoWs  Sohne  of  ]\Iainz  have  issued  Album  de  24  Tor- 
traits  en  3  cahiers;  1  Suite  en  10  cahiers,  op.  38;  and  Points  d'orgue 
pour  les  concerts  de  Beethoven,  op.  15,  19,  37,  and  58;  —  Breit- 
kopf  &  Hartel,  2  Sonatas,  3  Caprices,  and  3  Serenades  in  one  volume 
in  stiff  covers,  red;  —  Kistncr  in  Leipzig,  Deux  Ilarclws  funebres, 
op.  29,  and  Barcarole  with  Appassionato,  op.  30;  —  C.  F.^Kahnt  in 
Leipzig-,  Characterhilder  for  4  hands,  op,  50,  equally  interesting  and 
attractive  for  player  and  listeners;  Soirees  a  St.  Petersboiirg ,  six 
morceaux,  op.  44,  likewise  warmly  to  be  recommended;— C.  F.  Peters, 
Preludes  et  Fugues  en  stile  libre,  op.  53;  and  a  new  edition  of  the 
jStudes,  op.  23  and  24; — K6zsav61gye  &  Co.  in  Pesth,  Fantaisie  sur 
des  melodies  hongroises. 

Of  the  composers  mentioned  in  this  Section,  Raff  perhaps  ap- 
proaches him  in  fertility,  but  is  an  unimpassioned  classic  compared 
with  Rubinstein,  the  most  fiery  of  Romanticists.  Among  the  younger 
pianists,  only  Hans  von  Billow  is  his  peer  as  an  infallible  virtuoso; 
but  the  latter  quite  sinks  himself  in  an  objective  reproduction  of  the 
master  as  a  faithful  interpreter,  lending  through  his  own  virtuos- 
ity merely  the  most  animated  coloring  and  characteristic  illumination; 
whereas  Rubinstein  is  always  subjective,  though  his  own  personality 
irradiates  in  such  manifold  and  charmful  colors,  that  his  imposing 
artistic  skill  everywhere  appears  as  the  soul  of  the  character- piece 
chosen  for  interpretation.  In  any  event  we  must  recognize  in  these 
two  masters  of  independent  originality  the  most  gifted  and  active 
pianists  now  living. 


Grieg,  Saint-Saens,  and  Tschaikowsky. 

Three  artists  still  remain  for  mention  who  are  in  the  full  ilower 
of  productive  activity,  and  an  estimate  of  whose  true  value  must 
therefore  be  left  to  the  future.  They  are  not  of  German  parentage, 
but  their  compositions  in  part  already  lie  before  us  in  print,  and  are 
well  calculated  to  invite  closer  scrutiny  and  to  awaken  a  desire  to 
know  more  of  their  most  promising  authors.    Edvard  Hagerup  Grieg 


—     204     — 

is  a  Norwegian  (b.  at  Bergen  June  15,  1843);  Camille  Saint-Saens 
a  Frenchman  (b.  at  Paris  Oct.  9,  1835);  and  Peter  Tschaikowsky  a 
Eussian  (b.  April  25,  1840,  at  Wotkinsk  in  tlie  government  of  Wiatka, 
Ural  District).  The  influence  of  each  on  the  musical  life  of  his  native 
land  will  doubtless  be  important;  but  it  cannot  as  yet  be  deter- 
mined, whether  this  influence  will  make  itself  felt  abroad. 

Grieg  is  not  a  pianoforte  virtuoso  of  prominence,  neither  do  his 
pianoforte  works  aff'ord  special  difficulty  to  the  player.  The  Concerto 
in  J.-minor  with  Orchestra,  op.  16  (Leipzig,  E.  W.  Fritzsch)  is  written 
in  a  cheerful  vein  and  with  brilliant  passages;  but  harmonic  harsh- 
nesses and  sharp  cross-relations  are  sometimes  disturbing.  The  first 
movement  closes  in  ^-minor,  and  the  following  short  Adagio  begins, 
quite  without  connection,  with  the  Db -major  chord.  Even  if  the 
hearer  conceives  this  latter  as  the  Cjji- major  chord,  the  affinity  be- 
tween the  two  harmonies  must  first  be  constructed  very  sophistically 
through  J.-minor-J.- major,  and  Cff-minor-Cj|-major.  The  final  Allegro 
is  intelligibly  and  pleasingly  written,  but  the  oft-repeated  and  deci- 
dedly worn  commencement  of  its  principal  theme  makes  an  ill  im- 
pression. In  his  easily  executable  LyriscJie  StuclrJien  for  Piano- 
forte, op.  12  (Edit,  Peters)  —  and  also  in  the  second  and  third  sets 
or  books  of  the  same,  op.  38  and  43 — Grieg  employs,  as  in  many 
of  his  other  compositions,  Norwegian  motives  interesting  both  in 
melody  and  rhythm;  but  in  them,  too,  the  ear  is  often  unpleasantly 
grated  by  striking,  though  unlovely,  incorrectnesses;  e.  g.  in  the 
^-minor  Walt^  the  major  sixth  /"ft  frequently  occurs  instead  of  the 
minor  sixth  f  proper  to  this  key.  The  Ballade  in  the  form  of  Varia- 
tions on  a  Norwegian  melody,  op.  24  (same  publ.),  exhibits  in  both 
parts  of  the  theme  ill-sounding  parallel  fifths,  which,  even  if  written 
purposely,  prove  a  lack  of  friendly  counsel  and  aid.  Of  his  other 
Pianoforte  Works  there  have  been  published,  by  Breitkopf  &  Hiirtel, 
Sonata  in  £'-minor,  op.  7,  and  Sonata  with  Violin  in  G,  op.  13; — by 
Rieter-Biedermann,  Fantasia  for  4  hands,  op.  11; — in  Edition  Peters 
we  find  Foetische  Tonhilder,  op.  3;  Eimioresken,  op.  6;  Nordische 
Tdnze  und  Vollcsweisen,  op.  17;  Aus  dem  Volhslelen,  op.  19;  1  Sonata 
with  Violin,  op.  8;  and  Symplionische  Siuclie  for  4  hands. —Other 
works  are  op.  35,  Norwegian  Dances  for  2  or  4  hands;  op.  36, 
Sonata  for  Pianoforte  and  'Cello;  op.  37,  Waher-Capricen  for  2  or 
4  hands;  "Aus  Eollerg's  Zeit",  Pianoforte  Suite;  op.  41,  Fianoforte 
Transcriptions  of  his  own  songs;  op,  45,  Third  Sonata  for  Pianoforte 
and  Violin,  in  C-minor.     (Comp.  p.  178,  foot,) 


—     205     — 

Camiile  Saint-Saens,  who  from  early  youth  played  Bach's  "Well- 
tempered  Clavichord"  by  heart,  who  accompanied  prima  vista  from 
the  score  a  Scena  just  wi'itten  by  Richard  Wagner  for  a  lady  singer, 
at  whose  wish  he  transposed  it  into  a  lower  key,  is  also  recognizable 
in  his  own  works  as  a  thoroughly  trained  musician.  His  Premier 
Concerto  pour  Piano  in  D,  op.  17  (Paris,  Durand,  Schonewerk  et  Cie., 
Successeurs),  of  a  majestically  dignified  character,  develops  a  design 
sketched  by  a  master -hand.  Its  modulations  are  unconstrained,  the 
development  flowing  and  artistic,  and  the  piano-part,  independent 
throughout,  now  enters  into  strenuous  rivalry  with  the  orchestra,  and 
anon  alternates  peacefully  with  it.  The  Andante  in  G- minor  is 
followed  by  a  Finale  con  fuoco,  in  which  the  principal  subject  of 
the  first  movement  finally  resounds  once  more  in  triumphant  jubilation. 
For  the  performance  of  this  piece  the  skill  of  a  virtuoso  is  not 
requisite,  but  all  the  more  the  delicate  touch  of  a  thoughtful  and 
poetically  impressionable  pianist,  who  is  able  in  the  proper  place 
vigorously  to  stem  the  tide  of  the  full  orchestra,  and  to  show  him- 
self its  master.  The  Troisihne  Concerto  in  E^  (same  publ.)  begins 
with  high-surging  pianoforte  arpeggios,  gradually  joined  by  the 
orchestral  instruments  taking  up  the  main  motive  one  by  one, 
and  developing  and  illuminating  it  melodically  and  harmonically. 
At  length  the  pianoforte  takes  it  up,  strongly  and  sonorously  empha- 
sizing it  as  the  foundational  motive  of  a  work  quite  as  grandly 
designed  and  wrought  out  as  the  concerto  first  described.  The 
ingenious  and  well-skilled  artist  is  likewise  discernible  in  his  smaller 
published  salon  pieces.  The  attractive  piano-piece,  op.  34,  MarcTie 
hero'ique,  is  bold  and  striking  in  progression  and  modulation;  and 
the  Gavotte,  op.  23,  flows  on  unconstrainedly  in  the  ancient  style, 
though  taking  advantage  of  modern  technique.  These  pieces  also 
do  not  demand  the  skill  of  a  virtuoso,  and,  like  op.  40,  the  Danse 
macahre,  have  been  published  in  Paris  by  the  above  firm. — [Saint- 
Saens,  who  was  made  a  knight  of  the  Legion  d'honneur  in  1867, 
and  an  officer  of  the  same  in  1884,  is  always  the  same  incomparable 
pianist  ....  such  receptions  as  he  has  received  in  the  Conservatoire, 
in  Russia,  in  Leipzig,  and  in  London  prove  him  to  be  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  and  earnest  pianoforte  players  of  the  day. — Other 
of  his  works  are  two  further  Pianoforte  Concertos  in  (3^ -minor  and 
C-minor;  Quintet  for  Pianoforte,  2  Violins,  Viola,  and  'Cello;  1  TriOj 
and  1  Quartet  for  Pianoforte  and  Strings;  1  Suite  for  Pianoforte  and 
'Cello;  Sonata  for  Pianoforte  and  'Cello;  Berceuse  for  Pianoforte  and 


—     206     — 

Violin;  Allegro  appassionato  for  Pianoforte  and  'Cello;  Bomance  for 
ditto;  Septet  for  Pianoforte,  5  strings,  and  ti'umpet  ohhligato; — and 
for  Pianoforte  solo:  —  Op.  3;  11  {Duettino  in  G,  4  hands);  21  (first 
MazurTca);  24  (second  Mazurka);  35  {Variations  sur  un  thdme  de 
Beethoven,  for  2  pianofortes — a  gem);  52  (Etudes);  56  (Menuet  et 
Valse);  b9  {Ballade,  4  hands);  besides  several  transcriptions  of  classical 
or  popular  airs  and  12  transcriptions  from  Bach's  cantatas  and  sonatas. 
Grove.] 

The  gifted  Russian,  Peter  Tschaikowsky,  has  painted,  in  his 
Concerto  in  Ji5l7-minor,  a  gigantic  canvass  of  his  people's  period  of 
storm  and  stress.  In  conception,  form,  and  technique,  it  seems  like 
a  confident  challenge  to  his  competitors.  It  is  dedicated  to  Hans 
von  Billow,  who  was  the  first  to  recognize  his  eminent  and  artistically- 
developed  creative  vigor.  It  can  still  be  had  only  of  the  publisher 
Jiirgenson  of  Moscow,  and  in  an  edition  wherein  the  orchestra,  as  in 
many  similar  recent  works,  is  represented  by  a  second  pianoforte. 
After  a  promising  Andante  in  D\^  {^j^  time),  the  animated  principal 
movement  in  ^1?,  Allegro  con  spirito,  begins  {^j^  time).  This  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  more  tranquil  Andantino  semplice  in  D!?  (^/^  time);  and 
the  close  is  formed  by  an  Allegro  con  fuoco,  which  surpasses  the 
concerto -finales  of  all  his  predecessors  in  the  fervid  glow  of  the 
pianoforte  passages  and  the  orchestral  colors.  His  earlier  .pianoforte 
compositions  are  by  no  means  of  such  a  heaven-storming  nature,  but 
quite  as  original.  Only  his  first  work,  the  Scherzo  a  la  russe,  still 
shows  the  specifically  Slavonic  temperament;  even  in  the  Sclierzo,  the 
second  number  in  op.  2,  he  exhibits  a  strong  individuality  imitating 
none  of  his  predecessors.  Of  the  remaining  piano-pieces  we  name 
the  passionate  Bomance  in  i^-minor,  op,  5;  the  wantonly  teasing 
Eumoresqiie ,  op.  19;  the  Souvenir  de  Hapsal,  op.  2,  including  as 
No.  1,  Buines  du  cMtcau;  Valse-Caprice,  op.  4;  VaJse-Sclierzo,  op.  7; 
Capriccio,  op.  8;  Trois  morceaux,  op.  9;  Nocturne  and  Humoresque, 
op.  10;  and  Six  morceaux,  the  last  number  of  which  is  the  Theme 
original  et  Variations  (all  published  by  Piobert  Forberg,  Leipzig).  All 
these  neatly  wi-ought  salon  pieces  are  peculiar  in  their  progressions, 
intelligible  and  attractive  in  conception,  and  convenient  in  piano 
style;  they  justify  the  highest  expectations  with  regard  to  the  future 
works  of  this  original  composer. 

[A  second  pianoforte  Concerto  by  Tschaikowsky  in  G,  op.  44, 
and  a  Pianoforte  Fantasia  with  orchestra  in  6r-minor,  op.  56,  are  on 
a  level  with  the  first  Concerto  in  their  freshness  and  inventive  origi- 


—     207     — 

nality,  tliougli  both  works  win  less  applause  for  the  soloist  than  this 
latter.  We  also  note  a  Pianoforte  Trio  in  ^-minor,  op.  50;  a  Piano- 
forte Sonata,  op.  37;  many  books  of  solo  pieces,  pieces  for  Pianoforte 
and  Violin,  Variations  for  Pianoforte  and  'Cello.  Tschaikowsky  has 
an  astonishing  productive  faculty;  contemporary  with  him  a  neo- 
Eussian  school  of  composition  has  arisen,  including  really  distin- 
guished talents.  Alexander  Borodin  (1834—1887),  Cesar  Cui  (b.  1835), 
Anatole  Liadoff,  Nicolaus  Rimsky- Korsakoff  (b.  1844),  Balakirew 
(b.  1836,  an  eminent  pianist,  who  in  1862  founded  a  "Free  Music- 
school"  together  with  Lamakin,  composed  an  Oriental  Fantasia, 
"Slamey",  for  pianoforte,  many  piano -pieces,  etc.),  Alexander  Dargo- 
mirski  (1813 — 1869,  distinguished  pianist),  Modest  Mussorgskl  (1839 
to  1881,  wrote  besides  operas  many  pieces  for  pianoforte  and  for  the 
voice — Danse  macabre,  Scenes  cTenfants,  etc.);  all  of  whom  enthu- 
siastically joined  the  neo-German  movement  headed  by  Liszt- Wagner- 
Berlioz,  and  were  followed  by  younger  musicians  of  talent,  as 
K  Stcherbatcheff,  Alexander  Glazounow,  and  others.  To  the  Russian 
school  also  belongs  the  Bohemian  Eduard  Naprawnik  (b.  1839),  who 
in  1869  became  first  Conductor  of  the  Russian  opera  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  has  composed  a  large  number  of  Pianoforte  Works— Trios, 
Quartets,  a  Fantasia  for  Pianoforte  and  Orchestra,  op.  39,  etc.    0.  L.] 


Down  to  our  day  Beethoven  has  remained,  in  his  symphonies, 
string -quartets,  piano -trios,  sonatas,  and  other  extended  works,  the 
ideal  of  all  unbiassed  musicians.  His  pianoforte  sonatas,  manifolded 
in  countless  editions,  have  not  been  pushed  aside  by  later  composers, 
and  all  attempts  at  writing  such  compositions  in  the  more  brilliant 
style  suited  to  the  present  standpoint  of  virtuosity,  have  proved 
repugnant  to  the  genius  of  the  sonata.  To  produce  a  work  rivalling 
Beethoven's  sonatas,  would  be  possible  only  to  an  equally  profound 
thinker,  keen-sighted  knower  of  the  heart,  and  thoroughly  equipped 
musician  of  universal  and  versatile  talent,  as  was  Beethoven  himself 
— who,  though  sketching  his  ideas  in  moments  of  inspiration,  devel- 
oped and  matured  them  afterwards  in  seasons  of  quiet  contem- 
plation and  inexorable  self-searching.  Our  most  popular  composers, 
on  the  contrary,  are  ready  witli  their  pens  at  any  instant,  and 
straightway  consign,  to  their  prejudice,  their  pieces  in  an  unfinished 
state  to  the  publisher.  Moreover,  they  often  spin  out  their  melodies 
to  infinity,  whereas  now,  at  this  very  day,  the  characteristic  melody 
ought  to  be  reinstated  in  its  rightful  place. 


•      208     — 

The  Concerto,  which  employs  the  manifold  colors  of  the  orchestra, 
aad  portrays  the  more  agitated  moods,  fiercer  struggles,  and  violent 
passions,  may  call  the  full  artistic  skill  of  the  performer  into  play, 
in  order  to  attune  the  hearer's  mood  to  deep  melancholy  or  glad 
jubilation  by  animated  or  pathetic  runs  and  passages  suited  to  the 
subject  of  the  work.  The  most  illustrious  composers  now  living  have 
presented  us  with  admirable  works  of  this  class,  which  would  be 
brought  out  oftener  by  the  younger  pianists  did  the  demands  on 
the  virtuosity  of  the  performer  not  frequently  overpass  his  ability. 

The  Character-pieces,  Siimmungshilder ,  and  NoveJlettes  reveal 
progress  in  the  striving  toward  truth  of  expression.  They  choose  a 
more  diversified  and  unusual  subject,  and  clothe  it  in  conformity  with 
its  spirit  in  a  form  as  new,  characteristic,  and  attractive  as  possible. 
Humor  in  music,  in  particular,  has  been  duly  reinstated,  as  is  shown 
by  the  humorous  and  piquant  Humoresques  and  Scherzi  recently 
issued. 

The  Pianoforte  MetJiods  of  to-day  are  better  calculated  for  a 
many-sided  training  of  the  pupil,  the  Etudes  and  exercises  are  more 
practically  and  tastefully  written,  and  great  masters  have  provided 
friendly  gifts  for  little  hands  as  well.  [To  the  Pianoforte  Methods 
an  exceedingly  valuable  addition  has  latterly  been  made  by  Lina 
Ramann.  Her  broadly  planned  School  of  Pianoforte  Technique  has 
been  published  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel;  its  logical  development  of  the 
entire  material  of  instruction  from  the  beginning  caused  Liszt  to 
award  preference  to  this  work  above  all  others.  As  fresh  material 
of  instruction  this  School  introduces  the  Hungarian  Scale  —  extracted 
from  Liszt's  Khapsodies  hongroises  —  with  minor  third,  augmented 
fourth,  and  minor  sixth.     O.  L.] 

We  notice  with  pleasure,  that  since  the  first  edition  of  this  book 
more  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  earlier  clavier  literature,  as 
proved  by  the  Collections  of  the  compositions  of  celebrated  old 
masters  published  since  its  appearance.  But  much  precious  ore  yet 
remains  to  be  dug  out  and  brought  to  light;  in  this  connection  we 
again  urgently  advise  that  such  compositions  should  not  be  falsified 
by  means  of  any  "arrangements"  whatever.  This  remark  holds  good 
in  the  case  of  Folk-songs  and  Folk-dances  of  various  nations  still  to 
be  published,  which,  if  given  unperverted,  form  a  well-spring  of  new 
melodies  and  rhythms. 

Low-priced  Topular  Editions  of  recent  valuable  pianoforte  com- 
positions are    now    issued    by   almost    every    considerable  publishing 


—     209     — 

house;  the  critically  revised,  larger  J^ditions  de  luxe  of  the  Complete 
or  Selected  Works  of  Mozart,  Beethoven,  Schubert,  Mendelssohn,  and 
other  masters,  have  found  enterprising  publishers,  as  we  have  regu- 
larly noted  in  the  proper  place.  [To  the  Popular  Editions  of  the 
pianoforte  works  of  Mozart,  Beethoven,  Schubert,  and  Mendelssolm 
have  lately  been  added  those  of  Bach,  Chopin,  and  Schumann.  The 
Chopin  Edition  by  Klindworth  (Berlin,  Bote  &  Bock),  and  the  Schu- 
mann Editions  by  Dr.  Hans  Bischoff  (Hanover,  Steingraber)  and 
Dr.  Otto  Neitzel  (Cologne,  Tonger),  which  meet  all  requirements  in 
regard  to  critical  revision  of  the  works  and  practicalness  of  the 
explanatory  notes,  together  with  the  admirable  Beethoven  Edition  by 
Billow,  have  already  been  mentioned.  An  excellent  edition  of  Beet- 
hoven's Sonatas,  by  Klindworth,  has  also  been  issued  by  Bote  &  Bock 
of  Berlin.  Bach's  Clavier  "Works  have  been  published  by  Steiugi-aber 
of  Hanover  in  an  admirable  critical  Teacher's  Edition  by  Dr.  Hans 
Bischoff;  the  same  editor  has  also  recently  issued  through  the  same 
firm  the  tirst  three  Pianoforte  Concertos  by  Mozart  in  an  instructive 
and  critically  revised  edition.  The  editions  of  Mozart's  and  Beet- 
hoven's Sonatas  by  Dr.  Hugo  Riemann  haxe  created  a  stir,  for  the  reason 
that  the  Editor's  Theory  of  Phrasing  is  practically  and  consistently 
adhered  to  in  them.  The  movement  in  this  hitherto  almost  ne- 
glected department  of  tuition  has  doubtless  already  brought  forth 
good  fruits,  although  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  supporters  of  the 
movement  themselves  embarrass  their  meritorious  work  in  a  measure 
by  minutiae  and  singularities.     O.  L] 

The  Science  of  Counterpoint  and  Fugue,  in  its  strict  purity  and 
with  its  mysterious  convolutions,  is  apparently  in  its  decadence,  being 
now  practised  by  but  a  few  able  masters.  The  Science  of  Harmony, 
on  the  other  hand,  at  least  as  applied  by  unbiassed  composers,  now 
recognizes  the  formerly  unnoticed  distinction  between  "chord"  and 
"key".  That  is,  each  separate  chord  may  naturally  (diatonically) 
belong  to  seven  different  keys;  it  represents  one  definite  Jcey  only 
when  brought  into  combination  with  its  two  dominant  chords.  Only 
thus  do  the  chord-progressions  now  looked  upon  as  irregular  licences 
find  logical  justification. 

Virtuosity  has  attained  through  Liszt,  who  forced  it  to  follow 
his  most  fiery  pulses,  a  height,  the  transcending  of  which  would 
endanger  the  player's  accuracy,  and  leave  to  good  luck  the  success  of 
the  desperate  ventures  expected  at  his  hands.  The  virtuoso  of  to- 
day has  at  his  command  all  nuances  in  the  tone  of  his  instrument. 


—    210     — 

which  under  his  fingers  must  never  cease  to  sing,  from  the  softest 
piano  up  to  the  strongest  forte.  For  him  difficulties  ought  no  longer 
to  exist  in  the  composition  chosen,  and  he  should  he  so  profoundly 
immersed  in  the  poetry  of  his  music,  that  he  can  interpret  it  free 
from  all  rhythmic  fetters.  Like  an  inspired  improvisatore  he  is  up- 
borne by  the  feeling,  that  he  captivates  and  irresistibly  carries  away 
his  hearers  by  the  potency  of  his  heartfelt  delivery. 


'^♦®*" 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PIANOFORTE 

by 
C.  F.  WEITZMANN. 


Supplement   to   the   History   of  Pianoforte  -  playing  and 
Pianoforte   Literature. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Page 

Preface 215 

N^he  Clavier  and  the  earKer  instruments  related  to  it 216 

Origin  of  the  Clavichord.     The  Monochord 219 

v^Origin  of  the  Harpsichord.    Psaltery  and  Cymbal 223 

Notes  on  the  Claviers  of  the  16  th  and  17  th  centuries 226 

Tuning  of  the  Clavier-strings.    Equal  and  unequal  Temperament  .     .     .  232 

'Further  development  of  the  Clavichord  and  Harpsichord 244 

The  "G^igenwerke"  or  "Piano-violins",  and  the  Pantaleon 254 

*<irhe  Hammerclavier  or  Pianoforte 258 

Pianoforte-making  in  England 271 

Pianoforte-making  in  France 272 

Pianoforte-making  in  Germany  etc ,    .  275 

\  The  modem  Pianoforte 277 


PREFACE. 


From  an  insignificant  embryo,  aud  after  long  centuries  of  con- 
stant fostering,  the  pianoforte  has  become  the  universal  instrument 
of  to-day.  This  latter  epithet  is  fully  appropriate.  In  its  present 
form,  further  perfection  of  which  is  hardly  imaginable,  it  is  found  in 
the  capitals  of  Europe  and  America  in  nearly  every  house,  and 
frequently  several  together.  Its  tone  is  full  and  resonant,  in 
volume  it  vies  with  the  full  orchestra,  and  the  player  has  at  command 
every  shade  fi-om  the  gentlest  breath  up  to  the  most  penetrating  forte. 
The  mechanism  of  the  pianoforte  excels  that  of  all  other  instruments 
for  the  convenient  execution  of  the  most  rapid  runs  and  passages, 
and  the  singing  tone  of  our  present  piano  is  equally  adapted  for  the 
delivery  of  an  expressively  shaded  melody  with  a  most  diversified 
harmonic  accompaniment,  or  for  the  performance  of  polyphonic  pieces 
in  conti-apuntal  style.  In  its  ability  to  lend  living  expression  to  all 
phases  of  emotion  for  which  language  lacks  words,  the  pianoforte  is 
the  favorite  instrument  of  the  lonely  mourner,  and  of  the  solitary 
soul  whose  joy  seeks  expression.  But  in  the  brilliant  concert -hall, 
too,  the  pianoforte  is  gladly  welcomed.  Its  objective  character 
resembles  that  of  the  string  quartet;  it  follows  each  changing  mood, 
and  the  concert  grand,  with  its  distinguished,  festal  tone,  does  not 
lose  in  power  even  in  alternate  play  with  the  full  orchestra. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  every  musician,  and  especially  to  every 
pianist,  to  learn  of  those  masters  in  their  often  adventurous  careers, 
to  whose  experiments  and  enduring  perseverance  we  owe  this  influ- 
ential and  now  so  universally  popular  instrument. 

To  the  general  history  of  the  pianoforte  I  have  prefixed  a  short 
description  of  the   separate  parts  common  to  nearly  all  its  species, 


—     216     — 

to  avoid  any  later  interruption  of  the  historical  narrative.  After 
this  follows  the  story  of  the  origination  of  the  various  kinds  of 
claviers,  and  of  their  further  development  down  to  the  modern 
concert  grand  pianoforte. 


The  Clavier,  and  the  earlier  instruments  related 

to  it. 

Clavier  is  the  generic  name  for  all  the  various  kinds  of 
musical  instruments,  within  whose  horizontal  or  perpendicular  bodies 
of  a  three-cornered,  foui*- cornered,  or  otherwise  fashioned  fonn  strings 
are  stretched  across  a  sounding-board  in  such  a  way,  that  they  can 
be  tuned  by  means  of  pegs  around  which  one  of  their  ends  is  wound, 
and  can  be  set  in  vibration  by  means  of  a  series  of  levers,  called 
keys  or  digitals.  These  keys  rest  near  their  front  end,  the  actual 
digital  pressed  by  the  player's  finger,  on  the  hdlance-rail,  being  held 
in  position  upon  this  latter  by  the  balance  hey-pins,  fixed  metal  pegs 
which  do  not  hinder  their  free  movement.  To  the  rear  end  of  the 
key-lever  is  fastened  either  a  stout  perpendicular  metal  pin  flattened 
on  top,  or  a  wooden  hopper  playing  easily  on  springs  (equivalent  to 
''jac¥'),  carrying  a  quill  at  the  end.  By  striking  the  key  the  quill 
is  caused  to  twang  the  sti-ing,  whereupon  the  spring  hopper  instantly 
falls  back  to  its  former  place.  One  side  of  the  sounding-board  is 
open,  so  that  these  quills,  or  the  metallic  tangents,  when  the  keys 
are  pressed  down,  can  set  in  vibration  the  corresponding  single 
strings  or  double  or  triple  unisons.  Not  until  the  18th  century  were 
the  strings  struck  by  little  wooden  hammers,  which  were  either  fast- 
ened to  the  keys  themselves,  or  could  play  on  spindles  on  a  wooden 
rail  placed  above  the  keys,  or  whose  shanks  were  fastened  by  strips 
of  parchment  to  the  rail.  The  hammers  were  driven  against  the 
strings  by  a  spring  jack  on  brass  wire,  and  instantly  fell  back  after 
the  key  was  struck  into  their  former  position  by  the  aid  of  a  spring 
hopper.  For  a  long  time  the  jack  and  the  hopper  have  formed  only 
one  connected,  individual  mechanism,  the  "action"  of  the  pianoforte. 
When  the  key-lever  impels  the  hammer  against  the  string,  it  also 
lifts  from  the  latter  its  damper,  which  is  made  of  either  cloth  or  felt, 
and  which,  as  soon  as  the  finger  quits  the  key,  again  touches  the 
string  in  order  to  hinder  after-vibration.  The  forte  pedal,  which  lifts 
all  the  dampers  from  the  strings  at  once,  thus  intentionally  allowing 


—     217     — 

after -vibration,  is  a  modern  invention;  lilie  the  soft  pedal,  which 
brings  under  the  string  a  rail  bearing  projecting  strips  of  cloth, 
against  which  the  hammer  then  strikes,  tlius  producing  a  softened 
effect  of  tone.  Another  style  of  soft  pedal  employs  the  Verschiehung 
(shifting  of  the  keyboard),  which  permits  the  hammer  to  strike  only 
one  (una  corda)  of  the  two  or  three  strings  composing  a  unison;  a 
third  kind  lessens  the  striking  distance  of  the  hammer. 

The  Clavier  took  its  name  from  the  claves  (keys)  which  either 
directly  or  indirectly  set  the  strings  in  vibration.  This  key-mechanism 
was  borrowed  from  the  organ,  known  long  before  the  clavier. 

Like  the  lute  and  harp,  the  clavier  belongs  to  the  class  of 
musical  instruments  of  percussion,  whose  tones  are  produced  by  a 
blow.  Like  them,  too,  it  is  classified  among  the  many-stringed 
instruments  (pplycltorda),  but  is  however  distinguished  from  them  by 
its  keyboard  (claviarium),  by  virtue  of  which  it  belongs  to  the  family 
of  the  many-keyed  instruments  (polyplectra).  Finally,  we  have  to 
distinguish  between  the  three  essentially  different  species  of  the 
earlier  Clavichords,  the  Harpsichords,  and  the  more  recent  Pianoforte, 
which  in  turn  exhibit  very  various  kinds  of  claviers.* 

This  instrument^  found  in  our  day  throughout  the  civilized  world, 
and  in  high  favor  among  all  classes,  did  not  suddenly  appear  as  the 
invention  of  any  individual,  but  owes  its  development  into  its  present 
exceedingly  practical  and  sonorous  form  to  many  tentative  experi- 
ments at  first  little  noticed,  which  led  very  slowly  up  to  perfection. 

On  comparing  the  already  published  attempts  at  a  history  of 
the  pianoforte,  wd  find  sharp  ec-mractictions  in  ree:avn  to  the  period 
of  origination  and  the  earlier  character  of  this  instrument.  The 
reason  for  this  lies  in  the  various  and  often  ambiguous  names  which 
it  received  from  its  first  appearance  in  Italy,  Germany,  France,  and 
England;  and  still  more  in  the  fact,  that  the  authors  writing  on  this 


*  The  following  illustrated  hand-books  treat  of  the  build  of  the  modern 
pianoforte:  Kulsing,  Carl,  Theoretisch-practisches  Handbuch  der  Fortepiano- 
Baukunst;  Bonn  and  Chur,  1843,  8va,  with  6  Tables.  — By  the  same:  Das 
Wissenschaftliche  der  Fortepiano-Baukunst;  Bern  and  Leipzig,  Dalp,  1844, 
Bvo;  with  illustrations.  —  Weleker  von  Gontershausen ,  Der  Flligel  etc.  A  com- 
prehensive exposition  of  the  art  of  Fortepiano- making;  Frankfort,  Winter, 
1856;  with  illustrations. — By  the  same:  Der  Clavierbau  etc.;  Frankfort, 
Winter,  1870;  8vo,  with  ilhistrations.  —  Andre,  C.  A.,  Der  Clavierbau;  Offen- 
bach on  the  Main,  Joh.  Andr6,  1855;  8vo.  —  Blilthner  and  Gretschel,  Lehrbuch 
des  Pianofortebaues  etc.;    Leipzig,  1875. 


—     218     — 

subject  have  regarded,  and  consequently  treated,  two  instruments 
which,  though  similar  in  outward  shape  and  mode  of  playing,  were 
utterly  different  in  origin,  inner  arrangement,  and  tone-production,  as 
instruments  differing  only  unessentially  from  each  other. 

However,  before  going  further  into  detail,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  cast  a  glance  at  the  instruments  already  in  existence  previous  to 
the  advent  of  the  claviers,  and  therefore  able  to  serve  as  prototypes 
for  the  latter  in  their  separate  parts  or  the  combination  of  the  same. 

To  these  belong,  in  particular: 

The  Monochord,  an  instrument  already  employed  by  the  theo- 
reticians of  antiquity  for  the  determination  of  the  several  intervals. 

The  Psaltery  and  the  35-stringed  SimiJcon;  many-stringed  instru- 
ments known  to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  resembling  our  modern 
harps  and  lutes;  likewise  the  medieval  instruments  belonging  to  this 
family,  as  the  Dulcimer,  Spinet  (Espinette),  Hackbrett  or  Cymbal 
(salterio  tedesco),  and  others. 

Finally,  pneumatic  organs  provided  with  keys  had  been  known 
since  the  time  of  Theodosius  (379 — 395);  and  in  the  year  757  the 
Byzantine  Emperor  Constantine  sent  to  Pipin  as  a  present  an  organ 
after  the  pattern  of  which  Charlemagne  had  an  organ  built  in  812 
for  the  cathedral  of  Aachen. 

In  the  earliest  work  on  this  subject  by  Virdung,  printed  in 
German  in  1511,  which  we  shall  examine  more  closely  further  on, 
we  find  a  cut  of  a  large  organ  having  33  black  and  white  keys  in 
the  modern  arrangement,  with  a  compass  from  A  to  f;  also  of  a 
positiv  with  2  hand-bellows,  a  regal  with  3,  and  a  portativ  with  one.* 

These  three  styles  of  organ,  intended  for  home  use,  enjoyed 
wide  popularity  on  account  of  their  easily  managed  keys,  especially 
in  the  15  th  and  16  th  centuries.  But  their  bellows  Avere  very  incon- 
venient to  handle,  haA'iug  to  be  kept  in  constant  motion  either  by 
the  hand  or  both  feet  of  the  player,  or  by  a  second  person,  to 
supply  the  windchest.    Nevertheless,   they  remained  in  vogue  until 


*  Portativ  (organum  portatile)  was  the  name  of  the  smallest  organ,  to 
be  carried  by  a  strap  around  the  neck,  and  played  while  walking  or  sitting, 
one  hand  working  the  bellows  and  the  other  pressing  the  keys.  The  Hegal 
was  a  little  organ  with  a  single  rank  of  horizontal  reed-pipes.  The  Positiv 
possessed  several  different  registers  with  upright  pipes,  was  easily  trans- 
portable, and  placed  for  playing  on  a  table  or  other  convenient  piece  of 
furniture. 


—     219     — 

increasing  success  rewarded  the  endeavors  to  set  tense  strings  ia 
vibration  by  the  aid  of  keys,  and  thus  to  construct  a  more  prac- 
tical and  convenient  instrument  for  the  room. 


'  Origin  of  the  Clavichord. 

The  Monochord. 

The  testimony  of  earlier  authors  agrees  in  this:— That  the  sim- 
plest and  meanest  of  all  musical  instruments,  the  Monochord,  which 
was  originally  intended  not  for  practical  music,  but  only  for  specu- 
lative research,  was  the  germ  which  slowly  developed  into  the 
pianoforte,  which  in  volume  and  wealth  of  tone  replaces  a  full 
orchestra.  Even  in  earliest  antiquity  the  monochord  was,  as  re- 
marked, an  indispensable  insti'ument  for  all  investigating  theoreticiaus. 
It  consisted  of  an  oblong  sound-box,  over  which  was  stretched  a 
Btiing  tuned  by  means  of  a  peg.  A  bridge  (magas)  touching  the  string 
could  be  shifted  under  any  given  nodal  point  marked  beneath,  and 
thus  each  interval  of  a  scale  having  the  whole  string  as  its  key-note 
could  be  determined  with  mathematical  accuracy.  E.  g.  if  a  string  *  ' 
tuned  to  G  were  shortened,  by  means  of  the  movable  bridge,  by  a 
ninth,  the  remaining  eight-ninths  would  give,  when  set  in  vibration, 
the  major  second  A  of  the  key-note;  four-fifths  of  the  string  would 
give  the  major  third  B;  three -fourths,  the  fourth  c;  two -thirds,  the 
fifth  d;  three -fifths,  the  major  sixth  e;  nine -sixteenths,  the  minor 
seventh  f;   one-half,  the  octave  g: 

GABedefg 

/i       19       U       U       Is       Ih       lie       /a 

If  it  were  desired  to  compare  an  interval  so  determined  with 
the  tone  of  the  entire  string,  the  movable  bridge  had  first  to  be 
shifted;  but  the  consonance  of  two  or  more  tones  could  not  be  pro- 
duced on  this  single -stringed  instrument.  For  this  reason  several 
other  strings  were  soon  added  to  that  of  the  original  monochord, 
tuned  in  unison  with  the  fii-st,  and  likewise  provided  with  movable 
bridges.  The  theoreticians  Claudius  Ptolomseus  and  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus,  who  lived  in  the  second  century  of  our  era,  mention  a  four- 
oornered  instrument  having  4  strings  tuned  in  unison,  called  the 
Helicon,  and  used  for  determining  intervals.     Although  Johannes  de 


—     220     — 

Muris  teaches,  in  his  "Musica  speculativa"  written  in  1323,  the  use 
of  the  single-stringed  monochord,  he  also  recommends  that  with  four 
strings  for  testing  the  harmony  of  the  consonances,  because  it  ad- 
mitted of  striking  2,  3,  or  4  strings  at  once. 

In  using  the  monochord  the  continual  shifting  of  the  bridge  was 
very  ti'oublesome.  For  this  reason  the  instrument  was  furnished, 
probably  as  early  as  the  11th  century,  with  a  row  of  keys,  the  rear 
ends  of  which  were  provided  with  upright  tangents,  which  struck 
the  strings  when  the  keys  were  pressed,  thus  setting  them  in  vibra- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  shortening  them  at  the  given  nodal  points, 
thus  taking  the  place  of  the  movable  bridge.  The  simultaneous 
sounding  of  the  other  part  of  the  string  was  doubtless  prevented, 
even  at  that  early  time,  by  an  adjustment  like  that  shown  by  later 
instruments  of  this  class.  While  the  first  key,  the  tangent  of  which 
struck  the  string  at  its  extreme  end,  would  sound  the  tone  of  its 
whole  length,  G,  the  second  key,  shortening  the  string  by  a  ninth  as 
in  the  above  example,  would  give  the  tone  A,  corresponding  to 
eight-ninths  of  the  same.  The  third  key  shortened  the  string  by  one- 
fifth  in  like  manner,  and  the  four-fifths  then  set  in  vibration  would 
sound  the  tone  B;  etc. 

Guido  d'Arezzo  (b.  about  995),  who  appears  to  have  been  the 
first  to  use  the  monochord  in  giving  singing  lessons,  in  order  to 
illustrate  the  various  intervals  for  his  pupils,  may  have  already  added 
a  simple  key-board  of  this  sort  to  the  instrument,  or  perhaps  made 
use  of  an  existing  invention.  In  the  first  instruction  which  he  gives 
to  the  intending  student  of  music,  in  his  "Micrologus"  (Gerbert, 
script,  eccl.  de  Mus.,  Tom.  II,  pag.  4)  he  recommends  emphatically 
"to  practise  the  hand  in  the  use  of  the  monochord".*  But  the  mere 
shifting  of  the  bridge  under  the  string  of  the  instrument  could  hardly 
have  called  for  special  manual  dexterity;  and  in  order  to  give  sing- 
ing pupils  a  definite  idea  of  the  intervals  of  a  melody,  an  instrument 
surely  could  not  suffice,  which  necessitated  a  tedious  shifting  of  the 
bridge  for  each  separate  tone. 

Both  strings  and  keys  of  the  monochord  were  gradually  multi- 
plied; for  in  order  to  produce  all  the  tones  of  the  Guidonic  system, 
22  such  were  required,  which  subsequently  became  far  too  few.  But 
the  name  of  monochord  was  borne  by  this  species  of  clavier  down 


*  "Igitur  qui  nostram  disciplinam  petit,  aliquantos  cantus  nostris  notis 
pescriptos  addiscat,  in  monochordi  usu  manum  exerceat",  etc. 


—     221     — 

to  the  16  th  centuiy,*  when  the  instruments  of  the  derivation  de- 
scribed ahove  began  to  be  termed  Monachord,  Manichord,  etc.,  and 
in  general  CJavicliord. 

The  22  plectra,  cJaves,  or  keys  of  the  earlier  Clavichords  were 
of  a  white  color,  and  produced  a  diatonic  series  of  tones  from  great 
G  up  to  two -lined  e".  Only  the  two  higher  octaves  had  an  extra 
black  key  between  a  and  h  for  &[?.  Seven  sti-ings  then  sufficed  for 
the  production  of  these  22  tones.  They  were  tuned  to  the  lowest 
tone  of  the  instrument,  G,  this  tone  being  sounded  by  the  first  key, 
which  set  the  entire  length  of  the  first  string  in  vibration.**  The 
next  key,  by  means  of  its  tangent  or  broad  metal  pin,  shortened  this 
same  first  string  on  stiiking  it  by  a  ninth,  and  consequently  sounded 
the  tone  A.  The  third  key  in  like  manner  shortened  the  same 
string  by  a  fifth,  thus  sounding  the  tone  B.  The  fourth  key  was  the 
first  to  strike  the  second  string,  shortening  the  same  with  its  tangent 
by  one-quarter,  thus  causing  three-quarters  of  the  string  to  sound  the 
tone  c;  etc.  In  the  higher  octaves,  e.  g.  where  only  one-quarter  of 
the  string  was  to  sound,  the  other  three-quarters  would  have  sounded 
louder  than  the  smaller  part  required;  but  to  hinder  such  vibration 
a  strip  of  cloth  was  wound  about  that  part  of  the  string  not  intended 
to  vibrate. 

The  tones  G,  A,  and  B  being,  as  we  have  shown,  produced  by 
the  same  string,  they  could  never  be  sounded  in  combination,  and 
the  tones  G  and  c  therefore  formed  the  first  consonance  from  below. 
On  the  other  side,  this  imperfect  clavichord  had  one  advantage 
which  explains  its  long  continuance  in  tune.    If  the  instrument-maker 


*  Nicola  Vicento,  on  p.  103  b  of  his  work  "L'antica  musica  ridotta  alia 
moderna  prattica",  publ.  in  Rome,  1555,  reckons  the  monochord  among  the 
keyed  instruments  of  his  time.  Zarlino  also  classes  the  monochord  with 
modem  instruments  in  his  "Istitutioni  harmoniche"  of  the  year  1558,  saying 
in  Cap.  41,  p.  125:  Et  se  bene  nel  mostrato  Monochordo  (the  single -stringed 
instrument)  si  ritrovano  le  forme  vere  ed  naturali  di  tutte  quelle  consonanze, 
che  sono  possibili  da  ritrovare,  per  questo  non  dovemo  credere,  che  nelli 
moclerni  istrumenti,  come  sono  Organi,  Clavocembali,  Arpichordi,  Monochordi 
ed  altri  ancora  tali  consonanze  si  ritrovino  nella  loro  vera  ed  natural  forma. 
— Also  comp.  p.  97;  the  close  of  Cap.  27;  and  likewise  p.  344,  where  he  says: 
"He  (the  student  of  art)  must  be  able  to  play  the  monochord  and  arpichord 
sufficiently  weU,  if  not  perfectly." 

**  Even  after  the  later  multiplication  of  the  strings,  they  were  all 
tuned  in  unison.  Proof  of  this  we  shall  find  further  on,  when  discussing 
Virdung's  work. 


—     222     — 

— at  first  apparently  the  cabinet-maker*— had  adjusted  the  tangents 
of  the  keys  at  exactly  the  proper  places,  it  was  merely  necessary  to 
keep  all  the  strings  tuned  in  unison,  in  order  to  play  the  then  still 
untempered  diatonic  scale  in  the  utmost  purity. 

With  the  growing  development  of  harmony,  however,  it  became 
necessary  to  increase  the  number  of  strings  on  the  clavichord  at 
least  so  far,  that  each  of  the  consonances  of  the  diatonic  ecclesiastical 
tones  then  still  exclusively  employed  could  be  sounded  together.  But 
even  after  clavichords  were  built,  whose  keys  sounded  the  tones  in 
chromatic  succession,  the  black  and  white  keys  then  alternating  as 
in  the  modern  keyboard,  three  or  four  keys  still  struck  one  and  the 
same  string  with  their  tangents  at  different  distances  from  its  end. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  the  so-called  "bundfreies"  clavier  was  con- 
structed, having  an  individual  string  for  each  key.  • 

We  still  find  clavichords  with  strings  tuned  in  unison  in  general 
use  as  late  as  the  16  th  century.  Such  are  those  which  Virdung 
described  in  1511,  and  Zarlino  called  monochords  in  1558.  In  view 
of  the  many  tones  of  chromatic  instruments  of  large  compass,  the 
numerous  frets  on  the  keys  and  the  unison  tuning  of  the  stnngs 
necessarily  became  very  inconvenient.  On  this  account  there  was 
added  to  the  clavichord,  after  the  pattern  of  the  clavicembalo  of  the 
15th  century,  a  wooden  bridge  beneath  the  strings,  crossing  diago- 
nally the  rectangle  of  the  instrument,  and  furnished  with  short  up- 
right metal  pins  against  which  the  strings  were  pressed  on  tension, 
and  which  gradually  shortened  the  latter  up  to  the  highest  tones. 
Now  more  practical,  shorter  and  thinner  strings  could  be  assigned 
to  the  higher  tones,  and  longer  and  stouter  ones  to  the  lower;  but 
with  the  abolishment  of  the  unison  strings?  and  setting  aside  the 
exclusive  control  of  the  diatonic  church  modes,  there  began  the 
search,  which  busied  all  theoreticians  and  practical  musicians,  afier 
a  rule  which  should  likewise  secure  as  pure  a  temperament  as  pos- 
sible for  the  secular  keys  then  constantly  gaining  groimd.  In  a 
subsequent  chapter  this  important  matter  will  be  treated  in  detail. 

Despite  the  multiplication  of  its  strings  and  keys,  and  the  pro- 
gressive improvement  of  its  tone  through  more  suitable  sounding- 
boards  and  tangents,  the  clavichord  retained  its  original  form,  that 


*  "I  will  not  describe  how  the  Clavichordium  and  other  instruments  are 
to  be  made,  for  that  concerns  architecture  or  the  handicraft  of  the  cahinet- 
traJcer  rather  than  music.''    Virdung,  1511. 


—     223     — 

of  au  oblong-  })o%.  v^'bi'-'U  .was  at  the  outset  placed  on  a  table,  but 
later  obtained  legs '  jf- its  own.  Claviers  of  this  kind,  derived  from 
the  monoehord,  stj'il  lingered  in  tlie  first  half  of  the  19  th  century, 
when  the  Hammt  ?rclavier  or  Pianoforte  gradually  ousted  all  the 
earlier  species. 


—    Origin  of  the  Harpsichord. 

Psaltery  and  Cymbal. 

The  elavicV'ords  described  had,  even  in  their  latest  perfection, 
only  a  delicate,  hesitating  tone.  Amidst  their  growing  popularity  a 
plan  was  ther6^*]ore  devised  for  the  construction  of  an  instrument, 
whose  strings  coujld  be  set  in  stronger  vibration  by  sharper  tangents, 
by  which  means, ^   fuller  and  steadier  tone  could  be  obtained. 

Among  the.  poly  chord  instruments  which  might  serve  the  end  of 
combination  with  b.  keyboard,  there  were  known  in  the  middle  ages, 
besides  the  harp,  ty'vo  others  which  especially  concern  us  here,  namely, 
the  Psaltery  ai|i  tijie'  ;Oymbal. 

The  harp-like;  Psaltery,  constructed  in  a  three-cornered,  four- 
cornered,  or  round -cornered  form,  was  carried  by  a  strap  around 
the  neck,  or  set  for  playing  on  a  table.  Its  strings  were  plucked 
with  the  fingers^  wi|h  a  metallic  plectrum,  or  with  ([iiiUs  attached  to 
lings  on  the  player'*  hands.  Similar  instruments,  whose  strings  were 
however  struck  with  two  sticks  or  small  wooden  mallets,  were  con- 
temporary  with  these  under  the  following  names:  Dulcimer,  Sambuke, 
Barbiton,  Tympanum,  Symphonic,  Spinet,  and  Cymbalum. 

The  direct  predecessor  of  the  Clavicembalo,  the  Cymbal  or 
Haclibrett,  waS'  also  #jalled  the  German  Psaltery  (salterio  tedesco). 
It  had  a  sharp,  ineis\ve  tone,  and  consisted  of  a  square  box,  upon 
which  metallic  stringfb  were  fastened  and  tuned  in  diatonic  successiijn. 
At  first  its  conipftss  CBabraced  from  two  to  three  octaves,  and  later 
four,  the  tones  of '"■'/vKich,  be -inning  with  great  C,  ascended  in  chro- 
matic succession.,  'vitb  2'  or  3  unisons  to  each.  In  his  hands  the 
player  held  two  wooden  mallets,  one  end  of  which  was  covered  with 
cloth  in  the  later  development,  to  render  the  tone  produced  less 
harsh.  After  the  ^  18th  century  we  find  it  almost  exclusively  in  the 
hands  of  the  peasants  in  Little  Eussia,  and  of  the  Gypsies  in  Hun- 
gary; the  cynii)?,!  i,».n4  the  fiddle  still  form  the  chief  instruments  of 
the  latter. 


—     224 


\ 


From  the  accounts  of  earlier  writers  we^-ean  only  approximately 
determine  the  time  at  which  there  were  addfidyirto  the  psaltery  and 
to  the  cymbal  possibly  derived  from  the  same,^^y;s.  whose  tangents 
served  instead  of  the  fingers  or  mallets  of  the  payer  to  set  the 
strings  in  vibration.  From  these  accounts  we  alsdi  gather,  that  the 
clavichords  or  monochords  were  the  earliest  claiviers  of  all,  not 
followed  until  later  by  the  elavicembali.  -  -And'fili'gt,  the  following 
report  of  a  ti-ustworthy  author  will  be  of  weight  f|)r/us. 

The  celebrated  philologist  J.  G.  Scaliger,  born^  1484,  lived  until 
his  forty-second  year  in  Northern  Italy.  In  his  work  Foetices  libri  VII, 
Lyons  1561,  cap.  48,  he  narrates  that  Simius,  who  mod  at  the  time 
of  the  decadence  of  ancient  Greek  music,  invented  ^the  SS^^stjingecL 
instrument  called  the  Simicon,  from  which  were  dei-ilved  the  instru- 
ments popularly  named  Monochords,  whose  tones  ^.irere  produced  by 
means  of  regularly  ordered  plectra  (tangents)  sprihging  from  below 
against  the  strings.  These  plectra  were  subseqii<ently  armed  with 
sharp  crow-quills,  to  obtain  a  distincter  tone  from  ..the  metal  strings. 
In  his  childhood  this  instrument  was  called  Clavicyhihalum  or  Harpsi- 
eJiordum,  but  afterwards  Spinett,  from  the  sharp  dtuills.* 

The  pianist  and  author  Georges  Becker  hm'  published,  in  the 
JReviie  et  Gazette  musicale  de  Paris,  an  arMcle  on  "L'Epinette.  Son 
origine,  son  etimologie",  which  was  copied  soon  after  its  appearance 
by  English,  German,  and  American  music  joumffls,  and  also  by  the 
Gtiide  Musical  (Brussels,  Schott  freres)  of  Aug.Sth  and  15th,  1878. 
Becker  had  found,  in  the  book  Conclusioni  net  suono  delV  organo  etc., 
by  Adriano  Banchieri  (Bologne,  1608),  the  fallowing  passage:  "The 
spinet  takes  its  name  from  the  inventor  u{  this  oblong  shape,  a 
Venetian  named  Giovanni  Spinetti,  and  I  haVe  seen  such  an  instru- 
ment in  the  possession  of  the  organist  Francesc*)  Stivori bearing 

the  inscription:  Joannes  Spinetus  Venetus  fecit,UA.  D.  1503". 

M.  Becker  now  accuses  the  learned  Scali.^er  of  two  mistakes 
contained  in  the  quotation  given  above,  hitherto  used  by  all  writers 
on  musical  history. — Firstly,  the  spinet  was  already  known  before 
Scaliger's  birth;  but  this  fact  has  been  called  in  iiuestion  neither  by 


*  Fuit  et  Simii  commentum  illud,  quod  ab  eo-Sitcacl^m  Appellatum,  quin- 
que  et  triginta  constabat  chordis;  a  quibus  eoriim  oAgc}',  quos  nunc  mono- 
chordos  vulgus  vocat,  in  quibus  ordine  digesta  .ple(?kra.|'feubsilientia  reddunk 
sonos.  Additae  deinde  plectris  corvinarum  pennariim  cyifepides:  ex  sereis  fills 
expressiorem  eliciunt  barmoniam.  Me  puero  Clavicymb^Jtum  et  Harpsicbordum 
nunc  ab  illis  mucronibus  Spinetam  noininant.  ,/■■ 


—     225     — 

Scaliger  nor  by  any  more  recent  author.  —  Secondly,  it  did  not  derive  its 
appelation  from  the  pointed  crow-quills,  hut  from  its  inrcntor  Griovanni 
Spinetti.  But  this  assumption,  before  accepting  it  a  as  certainty,  must 
be  supported  by  further  proof  than  the  discovered  clavier  of  the  year 
1503  made  by  one  Spinetus,  and  Banchieri's  assertion  put  forward 
over  100  years  later,  that  Spinetus  was  the  inventor  of  the  spinet. 
It  tells  against  this  assumption  in  the  first  place  that  Scaliger,  Avho 
lived  in  Venice  and  Padua  until  1526,  and  whose  excellent  memory- 
is  lauded,  should  not  have  heard  the  name  of  the  pretended  in- 
ventor, of  whom  Venice  was  the  native  place;  and  further,  that 
none  of  the  contemporary  writings  on  this  subject  should  mention  him. 

The  clavicembali  spoken  of  by  Scaliger  appeared  at  first  in 
square  form,  but  after  the  17th  century  the  larger  ones  had  almost 
invariably  the  present  "wing-shape".  The  latter  occurred  under  the 
following  names:  Fliigel,  Kielflilgel,  Harpichord,  Steertstuck,  and 
Schweinskopf,*  and  in  upright  form  took  the  name  of  Clavicytherium. 
In  a  smaller,  three  or  four-cornered  form,  the  clavicembali  had 
special  names,  and  at  first  no  legs  of  their  own,  being  placed,  like 
the  earlier  clavichords,  on  a  suitable  piece  of  furniture;  e.  g.  the 
spinet  and  the  virginal.  These  smaller  instruments  usually  had  a 
more  limited  compass  than  the  Fliigel,  often  only  the  higher  octaves 
of  the  latter.  In  Italy,  under  the  general  name  of  "Cembalo",  the 
Clavicembalo  or  Gravecembalo  was  always  understood.  To  the 
larger  styles  of  cembalo  belonged  the  Arpichordo,  to  the  smaller 
the  Spinetto,  Buonaccordo,  and  Virginale.  In  France,  too,  the  general 
name  "Clavecin"  or  "Clavessin"  commonly  referred  only  to  the  Cla- 
vicembalo, whereas  the  more  popular,  smaller  kind  was  called 
Espinette  or  ^pinette.  In  England  the  name  Harpsichord  was  given' 
to  the  larger  Clavicembali,  and  Virginals  to  the  smaller  ones. 

In  Germany  the  general  name  "Clavier"  always  referred  to  the 
Clavichord  specially  affected  there.  Earlier  names  of  the  class, 
already  mentioned  in  part,  were  Monocordo,  Monacordo,  Manicordo, 
and  Cembalo  clavicordo.  In  France  they  were  called  Manicorde, 
Manicordion,  and  Clavicorde.  A  Latin  manuscript  of  the  15th  century 
describes  the  Dulce  melos  or  Dulcimer  as  a  clavichord  having  an 
equal  number  of  strings  and  keys,  the  tangents  consisting,  not  of 
metal  pins  or  wedges,  but  of  wooden  wedges.** 

*  Comp.  Adlvmg,  Mus.  mech.  org.  IT,  113,  114. 
**  Comp.  Fetis,  Hist,  geuerale  de  la  Musique,  Paris,  F.  Didot,  1876;  Tom.  5, 
pp.  202—3. 

16 

\ 


—     226     — 

Before  continuing  the  history  of  the  two  species  of  claviers,  it 
will  be  expedient  to  give  a  concise  statement  of  the  distinctions 
characteristiziug  them. 

On  the  Clavichords  the  player  could  bring  out  a  softer  or  louder 
tone  corresponding  to  a  gentler  or  firmer  touch  of  the  keys;  in  the 
Harpsichords  (Virginals,  Spinets),  on  the  contrary,  the  quill  twanged 
the  string  with  uniform  power,  thus  permitting  of  a  sharp  outline, 
but  no  shading  of  the  tones.  On  the  former  the  tones  could  be 
executed  either  staccato  or  legato;  while  on  the  latter  a  staccato  and 
vanishing  sweep  of  single  tones  or  full  chords  was  always  heard. 
The  Clavichord,  by  reason  of  its  delicate  nuances  of  tone  and  the 
effect  of  the  Bchung  (halancement)  peculiar  to  itself,  which  could  be 
produced  by  moving  the  finger  back  and  forth  upon  the  key,  was 
capable  of  the  highest  expression  under  the  hand  of  a  good  player; 
whereas  the  Harpsichord  always  retained  the  same  uniform,  pene- 
trating tone,  and  was  therefore  employed  especially  for  concertos  with 
orchestral  accompaniment,  or  for  accompanying  vocal  chorusses. 

The  Fiano forte,  appearing  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury, was  brought  only  step  by  step  to  a  perfection  which  united  in 
itself  the  good  qualities  of  its  predecessors;  the  Clavichord  conse- 
quently remained  in  Germany,  down  to  the  19th  century,  the  key- 
board instrument  generally  preferred  by  masters  and  pupils. 


Notes  on  the  Claviers  of  the  16th  and  17th  centuries. 

In  the  following  extracts  from  ancient  printed  works  we  shall 
notice  the  earliest  evidences  and  confirmations  of  the  accounts  already 
given  concerning  the  origin  and  the  later  development  of  the  clavi- 
chord and  clavicembalo  (harpsichord).  We  shall  find  both  species  of 
clavier  in  practical  use  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  16  th  century, 
shall  examine  their  different  interior  arrangement  more  closely,  and 
thus  attain  to  a  clearer  insight  regarding  the  difference  of  origin 
evidenced  thereby. 

An  extremely  rare  book,  indeed  the  earliest  printed  work  to 
which  we  can  refer  here,  bears  the  title:  "Musica  getutscht  und  aus- 
gezftgen  durch  Sel)astianum  Virdung  Priesters  von  Amberg".  From 
the  Pi-eface,  "geben  zu  Basel  uff  zinstag  Margarethe  Tusent  funff 
hundert  und  XI  Jar"  (1511),  we  perceive  that  it  is  a  German  con- 


—     227     — 

densation  of  a  larger  Latin  work  by  the  same  author.  It  is  furnished 
with  many  neat  woodcuts,  and  written  in  the  form  of  dialogues 
between  the  author  Sebastian  and  his  friend  Andreas  Sylvanus. 
Though  often  quoted,  this  book  seems  never  to  have  been  exhaustively 
utilized;  for  it  contains  so  many  hitherto  unnoticed  disclosures,  espe- 
cially concerning  the  earlier  claviers,  that  it  will  be  of  interest  to 
let  the  priest  Sebastian  speak  for  the  most  part  for  himself  in  the 
following.  He  begins  his  instructions  by  classing  instrumental  music 
in  three  genera:  (1)  Stringed  instruments;  (2)  instruments  sounded  by 
wind;  (3)  musical  instruments  made  of  metal  or  other  resonant  ma- 
terial. He  then  speaks  of  the  genus  of  stringed  instruments,  and 
remarks,  that  certain  of  the  same  have  claves  (keys),  by  means  of 
which  they  are  governed  and  played  upon  according  to  rule.  Of 
this  kind  are  the  instruments  with  clavieren  (keyboards).  Then  follow 
illustrations  of  four  different  kinds  of  claviers.  The  first  three, 
Clavicordium,  Clavicimhalunv,  and  Virginal,  appear  in  the  form  of 
shallow,  oblong  boxes,  whose  lids  are  held  open  by  supports  in  order  to 
show  the  inner  arrangement  of  the  strings.  The  fourth  illustration, 
the  Claviciterium ,  exhibits  an  upright  harpsichord,  which,  like  the 
other  instruments,  is  not  provided  with  feet,  and  had  therefore  like 
them  to  be  set  on  a  suitable  piece  of  furniture.  In  all  these  claviers 
the  keys  are  shown  without  any  bed  or  keyframe,  projecting  freely 
out  in  front,  whereas  their  division  into  white  lower  and  black  upper 
keys  remains  the  same  at  the  present  day. 

The  Clavicordium  has  only  7  strings  of  equal  length  for  its 
38  keys,  which  include  the  compass  of  male  and  female  voices  in 
chromatic  succession  from  A  to  &^.* 

In  the  Clavicimbalum,  Virginal,  and  Claviciterium  the  strings, 
which  are  already  equal  in  number  to  the  keys,  grow  shorter 
towards  the  higher  notes,  and  in  regard  to  the  upright  Claviciterium 
Virdung  gives  the  following  information:  "This  is  like  the  Virginal, 
but  has  other  strings  of  sheep-gut,  and  nails  which  make  it  Jiarp 
(twang  the  strings?),  and  also  has  quills  like  the  Virginal;  it  was 
recently  invented,  and  I  have  seen  only  one  of  them". 

In  the  following  illustrations  of  a  square  and  three-cornered 
Psalterium,  each  of  which  has  10  strings,  our  author  remarks:  "The 
Psalterium,  which  is  still  in  use,  I  have  never  seen  otherwise  than 

*  r6tis,  in  liis  Hist,  de  la  Musique,  Tom.  V,  p.  201,  gives  the  same 
compass  and  tlie  same  description  of  the  claviers  of  the  15  th  and  16  th  cen- 
turies, but  not  from  our  source. 

15* 


—     228     — 

three-cornered.  But  I  think  that  the  Virginal  was  formerly  derived 
and  copied  from  the  Psalterio,  although  it  is  now  played  and  touched 
with  keys,  and  furnished  with  quills;  though  the  same  is  now  made 
in  the  shape  of  a  long  box,  like  that  of  a  Clavicordium,  it  is  never- 
theless more  comparable  to  the  Psalterium  than  to  the  Claricord, 
since  one  must  have  to  each  key  a  separate  string;  each  successive 
string  must  likewise  be  drawn  higher  than  the  one  preceding,  and 
also  become  shorter  in  the  same  proportion.  The  strings  thus  succes- 
sively shortened  therefore  form,  even  in  the  (square)  box  (of  the  in- 
strument), a  triangle.  But  neither  is  it  sti-ange  that  the  Psalterium 
Hieronimi  is  square;  for  not  the  form  of  an  instrument,  but  only  its 
mode  of  stringing  and  tuning,  is  of  in^portanee".  Further  on,  Virdung 
gives  his  friend  this  advice:  "Let  thy  first  choice  be  the  Clavicordium, 
next  the  lute,  and  thirdly  the  flute;  for  what  thou  learnest  on  the 
Clavicordio,  thou  canst  also  play  well  and  easily  on  the  organ,  the 
Clavicinibel,  the  Virginal,  and  on  all  other  keyboard  instruments". 

On  folio  E  (1)  Sebastian  observes:  "Hie  facht  es  an  zu  lernen"; 
and  then  proceeds:  "It  is  the  Clavicordium,  I  believe,  which  Guido 
Aretinus  called  the  Monocordum  on  account  of  its  single  string,  and 
which  he  calculated  or  measured,  described,  and  regulated  according 
to  the  diatonic  genus  alone.  —  But  I  could  never  find  out  who  it 
was,  that  after  him  invented  or  devised,  that  according  to  the  same 
gauge  and  for  each  point  a  key  was  made  to  strike  the  string  at 
the  exact  point  measured  off,  then  producing  just  that  tone  and  no 
other,  than  the  natural  gauge  ought  to  yield  at  that  same  point.  Neither 
do  I  know  who  it  was  that  named  the  instrument  Clavicordium  after 
these  keys". — Andreas  then  asks,  how  many  keys  and  strings  the 
Clavicordium  should  have,  and  Sebastian  answers:  "I  can  tell  thee  no 
number  which  it  must  have;  but  as  the  instrument  comes  from  the 
Mono  chord,  I  should  think  that  one  might  put  in  as  many  strings  as 
one  has  a  mind". 

A.  "But  when  it  has  more  than  one  string.  It  can  no  longer  be 
called  a  Monocordium,  but,  from  the  number  of  strings,  Teti'aeordum, 
Pentacordum,  etc." 

S.  "The  number  of  strings  makes  no  difference;  for  look,  the 
whole  matter  is,  whether  there  be  many  or  few  strings  on  the  in- 
strument, that  they  stand  all  together  in  one  unison,  or  in  lilie  pitch, 
no  one  being  higlier  or  loiver  than  any  other". 

A.    "Why  must  that  be?" 

S.    "As  the  gauge  of  the  whole  Monocord  serves  only  for  one 


—     229     — 

string,   if  there  were  several  such  not  of  equal  pitch,   the  gauge  of 
these  would  be  quite  wrong,  and  would  produce  false  notes." 

A.    "Then  would  one  string  be  enough  for  the  Clavicord?" 

S.  "No,  there  must  necessarily  be  more  than  one,  because  on 
one  string  alone  one  cannot  sound  a  consonance  simul  et  semel,  to- 
gether and  at  once,  but  only  in  succession.  Consequently  one  neces- 
sarily employs  numerous  strings,  in  order  that  one  may  be  enabled 
to  hear  therefrom  the  sweetness  of  the  simultaneous  consonances  in 
two,  three,  four,  or  more  parts." 

A.    "How  many  keys  ought  it  then  to  have?" 

S.  "When  Guido  wrote  on  the  Monocord,  he  ti-eated  only  of  the 
diatonic  genus;  and  therefore  the  Clavicordium  had  for  a  long  time 
not  more  than  20  keys". 

In  the  woodcut  inserted  here  by  Virdung  there  are  20  white 
keys,  together  with  two  black  keys  for  the  tones  h?  and  6^[?  in  the 
higher  octaves,  so  that  it  does  not  show  20  keys,  as  the  author  says, 
but  22.* 

Sebastian  then  continues;  "But  afterwards  others  found  a  still 
more  subtle  device;  they  read  Boetius,  too,  and  divided  the  Monocord 
according  to  the  chromatic  genus. — Now  they  make  Clavicords  of 
just  three  octaves,  though  some  add  a  key  and  a  half-tone  more,  so 
that  now  we  usually  find,  for  both  genera  (the  diatonic  and  chro- 
matic), 38  keys  (from  low  F  of  the  male  voices  up  to  high  g^  of  the 
female  voices)". 

The  last  observations  of  the  priest  of  Amberg  pertinent  to  our 
subject  are  as  follows:  "Another  arrangement  is  now  made  of  the 
Clavicordia,  for  which  reason  I  did  not  care  to  state  a  number  of 
strings  at  first.  Commonly,  however,  three  strings  are  now  taken  to 
a  unison,  so  that  one  need  not  stop  playing  if  a  string  snap.  Each 
unison  usually  has  3  keys  which  strike  on  it,  so  that  only  those 
two  keys  (tones)  cannot  be  struck  together  which  would  be 
dissonant.  Some  empty  unisons,  on  which  no  key  strikes,  are  also 
put  in— on  account  of  the  resonance.  Brass  naturally  sounds  coarse, 
but  steel  fine  ("cleyn"),  therefore  brass  strings  are  taken  for  the  lower 


*  The  cause  of  this  contradiction,  which  also  occurs  in  other  early  works 
when  mentioning  the  Guidonic  system,  lies  in  the  fact,  that  in  the  hexachord 
on  which  Guido  foiinded  his  system  either  the  B  quadratum  (our  modern  B), 
or  the  B  rotundum  (our  £?),  was  taken  alone.  Consequently  the  system, 
without  its  two  B^^s,  consisted  of  20  tones,  and  included  just  the  same  number 
when  B^}  was  substituted  for  B. 


—     230     — 

unisons,  and  steel  strings  for  the  higher.  The  strips  of  cloth  woven 
betwixt  the  unisons  of  the  strings  prevent  them  from  jangling  and 
sounding  on,  so  that  the  strings  sound  no  longer  than  one  holds  the 
key  down  for  a  tempus  (i.  e.  beat  of  the  pulse).  But  on  lifting  the 
finger  from  the  key,  the  tone  ceases,  even  in  the  runs  ("laufflin") — 
the  cloth  strips  effect  this". 

Five-and-twenty  years  later  the  book  just  quoted  was  republished 
in  Latin,  retaining  the  original  woodcuts,  but  provided  with  additions 
and  a  new  appendix,  under  the  following  title:  "Musurgia  seu  praxis 
Musicae.  Illius  primo  quae  Instrumentis  agitur  certa  ratio,  ab  Otto- 
maro  Luscinio  Argentino  duobus  Libris  absoluta.  —  Argentorati  apud 
Joannem  Schottum  Anno  Christi  1536." 

It  is  evident  that  even  then  the  claviers  were  considered  the 
most  perfect  musical  instruments,  from  the  following  remark  of  Lus- 
cinius  concerning  the  same:  "All  these  instruments  have  keys  (as 
they  are  called),  which  strike  the  strings  in  various  places;  when  the 
keys  are  set  in  motion  by  the  hands,  they  sound  the  full  euphony  of 
harmonies,  so  that  one  could  desire  nothing  further  to  be  added  to 
these  instruments". 

In  the  years  1615  and  1619  Michael  Pra^torius  published  his 
Syntagma  musicum,  consisting  of  three  parts,  followed  in  1620  by  a 
Thmtrum  instnimentorum  with  120  illustrations  of  various  instruments. 
The  author  knew  and  drew  upon  the  work  by  Virdung;  we  therefore 
quote  only  that  which  he  communicates  in  the  second  part,  de  Or- 
ganographia,  on  the  improvements  in  claviers  made  down  to  his  time. 

At  first  (Prsetorius  says  in  the  36  th  Chapter)  there  were  made 
for  the  Clavichordia  not  more  than  20  claves,  in  genere  diatonico, 
among  which  were  only  2  black  keys,  h\>  and  6'1?-  After  this,  however, 
there  were  added  more  semitonia  according  to  the  genere  chromatico, 
the  compass  being  extended  from  F,  G,  G^  up  to  f,  f%  But  now, 
he  observes,  all  Symphonies  and  Clavichordia  begin  below  with  C  and 
end  on  a",  c",  d",  or  even  /"'. 

For  him,  the  foundation  of  all  keyboard  instruments  is  the  Clavi- 
chordium,  neither  does  it  give  so  much  trouble  with  the  quilling  and 
the  tuning.  Clavichordia  are  often  met  with,  he  proceeds,  which 
stand  in  tune  for  years.  In  all  Clavichords  2,  3,  or  even  4  keys 
(which  propter  dissonantiam  must  not  be  touched  at  the  same  time) 
are  always  used  for  one  unison  of  strings. 

Concerning  the  other  claviers  of  his  period  Prsetorius  gives  th« 
following  account: 


—    231     — 

A  SynipJiony ,  and  likewise  a  Clacicynibalum,  Virginal  or  Spinet y 
are  designated  in  common  parlance  indiscriminately  by  the  term 
''instrument"  (though  quite  wrongly). 

Spinetta  is  a  small  square  instrument,  which  is  tuned  an  octave 
or  a  fifth  higher  than  the  right  pitch,  and  which  is  usually  placed 
on  or  in  the  large  instruments.  Both  the  large  and  the  small  square 
ones  are  named  in  Italy  Spinetto,  in  England  Virginal,  and  in 
France  Espinctte. 

Clavicymhalum  or  Gravecymhaluni  is  a  long  (longer  than  broad) 
instrument,  called  by  some  a  Fliigel  (wing)  because  of  its  shape,  by 
others,  sed  male,  a  Schweinshopf  (swine's-head),  because  its  end  forms 
a  point  like  a  wild  boar's  head.  It  has  a  strong,  bright,  and  almost 
more  pleasing  resonance  and  tone  than  the  others,  on  account  of  the 
double,  threefold,  or  even  fourfold  strings;  and  I  have  seen  one  with 
2  unisons  and  a  fifth  and  octave  as  empty  (eitcl)  strings,  all  of  which 
sounded  together  most  pleasingly  and  charmingly. 

I  have  seen  at  Prague,  Prjietorius  reports  further  on,  at  Herr 
Carl  Luyton's  (the  organist),  a  Clavicymbel  (Clavieymbalum  universale 
seu  perfectum),  which  was  made  accurately  and  carefully  in  Vienna 
thirty  years  ago  (i.  e.  about  1589),  in  which  not  only  all  the  semi- 
tonia,  as  1)7,  cjt,  d'^,  f^,  g'^,  etc.  were  doubled,  but  also  an  extra  semi- 
or  semitonium  was  added  between  e  and  f,  which  must  have  been 
necessary  in  the  gencre  enharmonico,  so  that  it  had,  in  the  four  oc- 
taves from  C  to  three-lined  c"',  77  claves  all  told.* 

Among  the  illustrations  given  by  Prsetorius  in  his  Theatruni  in- 
strumentarum  we  find  claviers  with  four,  five,  and  six  sides,  including 
a  Clavicymbal  "a  fourth  lower  than  choir-pitch",  in  wing-shape;  fui'- 
thermore,  an  Octave-Spinet  and  an  Octave-Clavichord  of  a  small  size 
corresponding  to  their  compass  of  but  3  octaves,  and  also  an  oblong 
"gcmein  (common)  Clavichord"  of  4  octaves  (from  E  to  three-lined  e") 
and  strings  of  equal  length. 

Regarding  the  status  of  claviers  in  Italy,  we  gain  some  infor- 
mation from  a  work  issued  in  Perugia  in  1695,  by  G.  A.  A.  Bontempi, 
Historia  musica,  p.  47.      Here  we    learn,  that  Girolamo  Zente  had 


*  More  than  30  years  before,  similar  chromatico-enliarnionic  instruments 
had  already  been  constructed,  and  then  described  by  Nicola  Vicentino  in  his 
previously  mentioned  book  published  in  Rome,  1555:  "L'antica  musica,  ridotta 
alia  moderna  prattica";  and  also  b^''  Zarlino  in  a  book  likewise  already  referred 
to,  published  in  Venice,  1358:  "Istitutione  harmoniche",  p.  140.  We  find  an 
illustration  of  such  a  wing-shaped  clavier  in  this  latter,  p.  141. 


—     232     — 

invented  the  newest  Clavicembali.  Their  form  was  nearly  that  of  an 
isoceles  triangle;  they  had  2  keyboards  and  from  2  to  3  draw-stops, 
took  up  little  room,  and  yet  sounded  fully  as  loud  as  the  long  Clavi- 
cembali.  Bontempi  remarks  further,  that  the  keyboards  of  the  new 
instruments  were  capable  of  being  shifted  to  the  right  or  to  the  left 
by  a  tone  higher  or  lower,  which  arrangement,  however,  was  aimless 
so  long  as  the  claviers  possessed  only  13  strings  to  the  octave  of 
13  keys.  But  after  two  strings  without  keys  had  been  added  to  the 
octave  of  13  keys,  giving  the  tones  between  d^  and  e,  and  between 
g^  and  a,  which  could  be  struck  by  one  or  the  other  key  on  shifting 
the  keyboard,  these  instruments  had  likewise  "attained  the  highest 
pitch  of  perfection". 

The  intermediate  tones  mentioned  by  Bontempi  were  actually 
necessary,  in  order  to  present  with  tolerable  purity  the  tone-relations 
in  the  new  keys  arising  from  the  shifting  of  the  keyboard,  as  the 
tuning  of  all  the  claviers  hitherto  discussed  still  lacked  the  modern 
equal  temperament. 


The  Tuning  of  the  Clavier-strings. 

Equal  and  Unequal  Temperament. 

The  impossibility  of  establishing  an  absolutely  pure  system  of 
harmony  is  a  well-known  fact  mathematically  proved.  Even  in  the 
following  series  of  pure  fifths  (2:3) 

a?  e\^  b\}  \  f  c  g  d  a  e  b  \  f'Jt  c^  g^ 


the  tones  a\?  and  g'^  (aside  from  the  inequality  of  the  thirds,  sixths, 
and  other  intervals  arising  therefrom)  form  no  pure  octave;  for  the 
tone  gS  is  by  74/73  higher  than  ab.  And  should  one  continue  the 
series  of  pure  fifths  to  infinity,  no  tone  would  ever  be  reached  which 
would  stand  to  a  preceding  tone  in  the  proportion  of  a  pui*e  oc- 
tave (1:2).  But  just  in  the  octave  the  ear  cannot  bear  the  slightest 
deviation — a  fact  recognized  even  by  the  two  opposing  theoreticians 
of  antiquity,  Pythagoras  and  Aristoxenos,  together  with  their 
adherents. 

The  Pythagoreans,  in  establishing  an  harmonic  system,  insisted 
upon  the  purity  of  the  fourths  (3:4)  and  fifths  (2:3). 

Fourths:  B  E  A  D  G  C  F. 

Fifths:  F  C  G  D  A  E  B. 


—     233     — 

From  these  established  tones  they  formed  the  diatonic  tetraehord: 

B  C  B  E 

and  also  the  united  tetrachords 

B  G  B  E  F  G  A 

to  which  was  subsequently  added  a  whole  tone  (8:9)  at  the  lower  end 
A,  BGBEFOA.,,., 

In  this  "pure  diatonic  system  of  harmony"  the  fourths,  fifths,  and  oc- 
taves obtained  their  natural  proportions,  but  not  the  major  thirds  (4:5), 
the  minor  thirds  (5:6),  and  their  inversions,  the  minor  and  major 
sixths. 

Aristoxenos  recognized,  as  an  umpire  in  musical  matters,  not 
only  the  reflective  faculty,  which  judges  merely  by  figures,  but  gave 
preference  to  the  ear.  This  theoretician  (about  320  B.  C.)  sought 
to  adjust  the  Pythagorean  system  to  the  practical  needs  of  musicians 
by  dividing  the  tetraehord  into  thirty  equal  parts,  giving  to  each 
semitone  6,  and  to  each  whole  tone  12,  of  these  parts. 

Diatonic:  B  C  B  E 

Chromatic:  B  G  B^  E 

When,  as  shown  above,  the  tetrachords  were  extended  to  an 
octave,  the  latter  was  divided  according  to  Aristoxenos'  plan  into 
12  semitones  of  precisely  equal  value.  The  fifths,  however,  were  at 
the  same  time  diminished  by  ^/^g  of  a  diatonic  comma;*  for  only 
by  this  means  could  the  pure  octave  be  obtained  in  the  harmonic 
system  now  comprising  twelve  steps. 

Aristoxenos  was  thus  the  first  theoretician  to  establish  in  music 
an  "equally  tempered  system  of  harmony",  although  it  did  not  find 
general  practical  application  until  more  than  two  thousand  years  later, 
after  many  hardly-contested  battles. 

Since  the  11th  century,  and  more  particularly  by  Guido  d'Arezzo 
and  the  succeeding  theoreticians,  attempts  were  resumed  to  institute 
a  system  which  should  at  least  establish  sufficient  purity  in  the  har- 
monic relations  of  the  diatonic  ecclesiastical  modes  then  exclusively 


*  Twelve  successive  fifths  overstep  the  octave  of  their  starting-point  by 
a  "comma".  Each  of  these  fifths  must  therefore  be  diminished  or  tempered 
by  1/12  of  this  narrow  interval,  in  order  finally  to  reach  the  pure  octave. 


—     234     — 

employed.  The  various  ways  of  dividing  the  monocliord,  which  were 
proposed  to  this  end  by  Guido  d'Arezzo,  take  no  account,  however, 
of  pure  tliirds  and  sixths,  because  in  the  11th  century  and  a  long 
time  thereafter  these  intervals  were  held  to  be  dissonant.* 

But  wlien,  after  the  15th  century,  the  harmonic  construction  of 
the  compositions  became  more  pleasing  and  intelligible,  tlie  tuning  in 
pure  fifths  and  fourths  without  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  thirds 
and  sixths  no  longer  sufficed,  even  when  using  the  ecclesiastical 
modes  almost  universally  in  vogue  until  towards  1700.  Even  the 
theoreticians  were  obliged  to  allow  the  singers  to  raise  or  lower 
chromatically  certain  notes  in  their  parts,  in  order  to  avoid  harsh 
melodic  progressions,  such  as  the  tritone  f-h  or  the  so-called  "false" 
fifth  h-f,  or  to  reach  the  leading-note  (subsemitonium  modi)  in  "per- 
fect closes",  as  the  composers  did  not  yet  venture  to  sully  the  pui-ity 
of  their  diatonic  measures  with  chromatic  signs. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  16  th  century  the  "chromaticists"  (Zar- 
lino,  1st.  harmon.,  parte  3,  cap.  80)  grew  continually  bolder,  and  the 
need  became  felt  to  tune  cla-saers  and  other  keyed  instruments  already 
arranged  chromatically  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  thirds  and  sixths 
would  also  obtain  their  due  share  of  purity,  they  having  been 
finally  admitted  by  the  theoreticians  to  the  station  of  ''imperfect 
consonances". 

The  clavier-tuners,  at  that  time  the  clavier-players  themselves, 
had  already  attempted  to  come  at  a  satisfactorily  pure  temperament 
by  ear.  Now,  however,  the  theoreticians  also  began  the  search  after 
suitable  and  stable  rules  for  temperament. 

The  Florentine  Piero  Aron,  whose  clearly  and  carefully  written 
work  Toscanello  in  Musica  ran  through  five  editions**  from  1523 
to  15G2,  gives  the  division  of  the  clavier,  which  he  styles  Monachordo, 
into  tones  and  natural  and  accidental  semitones,  treats  in  Chapter  XLI 


*  The  first  theoretician  to  recognize  the  consonant  character  of  the  thirds 
was  Franco  of  Cologne,  in  the  13th  century (?).  As  perfect  consonances  he 
names  the  unison  and  octave,  as  medium  the  fifth  and  the  fourth,  and  as 
"imperfect"  the  major  and  minor  third.  In  the  14th  century,  de  Muris  still 
reckons  the  major  and  minor  thirds  to  the  imperfect  consonances,  but  adds 
to  these  the  major  sixth.  Philippe  de  Vitry,  a  contemporary  of  de  Muris, 
finally  designates  both  the  major  and  minor  third  and  the  major  and  minor 
sixth  as  "imperfect  consonances". 

**  I  quote  from  the  Venetian  edition  of  1529,  Cap.  XL:  Divisione  del 
Monachordo  per  tuoni,  et  semituoni  natural!  et  accidentali;  also  Cap.  XLI: 
De  la  participatione  et  modo  d'accordare  I'instrumento. 


—     235     — 

of  the  temperament  (participatione)  of  this  "instrument",  and  gives 
directions  for  tuning  tlie  same.  He  remarks,  that  every  thing  formerly 
written  on  this  topic  was  hard  to  understand,  even  for  the  learned, 
and  gives,  to  hegin  with,  a  description  of  the  clavier  of  his  time,  as 
follows:  In  the  "instrumento  orgauico"  there  were,  as  usually  arranged^ 
29  natural  tones,  called  according  to  general  custom  "white  keys", 
and  18  accidental  tones  called  "black  keys  or  semitones".  The  com- 
pass of  the  instrument  was  4  octaves  with  all  tones  in  chromatic 
succession  from  low  F  of  the  male  voices  upward,  in  wliich  only  the 
two  black  keys  for  low  Fl^  and  G^  were  wanting.  Aron  gives  the 
following  directions  for  tuning  the  clavier:  First  tune  the  tone  G  at 
a  pitch  taken  at  pleasure  (con  quella  intonatione  che  a  te  piacera),  then 
the  higher  pure  octave  of  this  tone,  and  also  its  pure  major  third  E\ 
after  this  the  fifth  G-G  rather  lower  than  quite  pure,  as  also  the 
fifth  G-B;  now  the  octave  of  the  last  tone,  and  the  fifths  B-A,  A-E, 
and  E-B,  though  all  a  trifle  narrower  than  pure,  i.  e.  somewhat  too 
low  and  not  quite  perfect.  Now  take  the  fifth  F  below  the  tone  C, 
but  tune  it,  in  contrast  to  the  others,  rather  higher  than  pure 
in  order  to  "attain  the  right  and  pure  temperament  and  tune".  Then 
tune  the  fifths  B\}  below  F,  and  ^?  below  B?,  in  the  same  way  as 
the  fifth  F-G;  the  remaining  semitones,  (black  keys)  however,  as 
thirds;  the  tone  C^  in  like  manner,  striking  A  and  E,  and  F^  tuned 
to  B  and  A,  etc.;  until  finally  the  remaining  octaves  are  tuned,  and 
one  thus  attains  the  true  temperament. 

Zarlino,  the  astutest  theoretician  of  his  period,  and  an  authority 
in  all  branches  of  music  during  two  centuries,  also  gives  in  the 
above-named  work  instructions  for  the  temperament  of  keyboard  in- 
struments, based  on  the  division  of  the  string  of  the  monochord. 

In  the  organs,  Clavocembali,  Arpichordi,  Monochordi,  and  other 
modern  instruments,  he  says,  the  consonances  are  not  met  with  in 
in  their  natural  and  pure  proportions,  but  in  tuning  the  same  are 
tempered  by  musicians,  i.  e.  augmented  or  diminished  according  to 
necessity,  but  not  so  as  to  hurt  the  ear.  This  process  of  temperament, 
latterly  called  "participatione",  is  employed  in  order  that  the  intervals 
of  the  major  and  minor  third,  which  were  earlier  not  reckoned  among 
the  consonances,  may  also  sound  as  such. 

Zarlino's  first  direction  for  obtaining  the  purest  temperament 
possible  for  the  tones  of  the  diatonic  genus,  runs  as  follows:  By  tuning 
the  fourths  B-e,  e-a,  a-d\  in  their  true  proportion  (3:4),  then  the  pure 


—     236     — 


minor  third  (5:6)  B-d,  the  tones  d-d'  will  not  form  a  pure  octave, 
the  proportion  of  which  is  1:2 — 


The  difference  between  d  and  d!  is  a  comma;  this  is  divided 
into  7  parts,  which  are  so  distributed  among:  the  7  intervals  of  the 
8  tones  forming  the  octave,  that  finally  the  two  tones  of  different 
sound,  d  and  d' ,  blend  to  a  single  tone. 

The  octave,  Zarlino  teaches,  must  invariably  be  pure.  It  consists 
of  a  fifth  and  a  fourth;  the  former  is  to  be  diminished  by  ^Z,  of  the 
comma,  the  latter  augmented  by  the  same  amount.  The  pure  fifth 
consists  of  one  major  and  one  minor  third;  each  of  these  is  dimini- 
shed by  */,,  and  consequently  each  major  and  minor  sixth  augmented 
by  the  same.  The  major  third  consists  of  one  greater  semitone  and 
one  greater  whole  tone;  the  former  is  augmented  by  */,,  the  latter 
diminished  by  */,. 

Zarlino  also  mentions,  that  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  he  was 
the  first  to  treat  of  temperament,  and  to  lay  down  rules  therefor. 

Further  on  in  the  aforesaid  work  he  gives  instructions  for  the 
construction  of  a  clavicembalo  on  which  not  only  the  diatonic  genus, 
but  also  the  chromatic  and  enharmonic  genera,  could  be  played. 

In  the  year  1548  Zarlino  had  a  "Clavocembalo"  made  in  Venice 
by  the  admirable  builder  of  such  instruments,  Dominico  Pesarese,  a 
picture  of  which  he  gives  on  p.  141.*  It  exhibits  the  modern  wing- 
shape,  and  has  a  compass  of  two  octaves  of  the  male  voice  from  A 
in  the  great  octave  up.  The  lower  white  keys  are  arranged  as  in 
our  pianofortes;  but  between  the  tones  &  -and  c,  and  likewise  between 
e  and  f,  there  also  lies  a  white  upper  key,  and  between  the  remaining 
tones  are  found  two  upper  (short)  keys,  one  of  which  is  always  black 
and  the  other  white;  so  that  within  the  space  of  each  octave  there 
lie,  not  12  keys  as  at  present,  but  19  different  tones.  But,  our 
theoretician  observes,  had  one  cared  to  add  even  more  tones,  one 
would  nevertheless  never  have  achieved  perfect  purity  of  all  the  in- 
tervals, nor  have  been  able  to  produce  more  pleasing  harmonies 
with  the  same  than  those  hitherto  known. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  both  in  Italy  and  Germany 
various   attempts   were   made    to    construct   such   "Arcicembali"   and 


*  Beside  the  cut  we  find  the  following  quotation:  "Difficile  est,  nisi  docto 
homini  tot  tendere  chordas". 


—     237     — 

"Universaliastrumente",  througli  the  aid  of  whose  chromatic  and  en- 
harmonic keys  the  puiest  temperament  possihle  should  be  obtained. 
The  Florentine  F.  Nigetti  was  perhaps  the  last  to  manufacture  such 
an  instrument,  called  "cembalo  onnicordo"  or  "Proteus",  about  1650, 
which  was  provided  with  five  keyboards  arranged  stepwise,  together 
with  numerous  draw-stops.  It  is  said  that  on  this  instrument  one 
could  distinguish  the  enharmonic  tones,  and  play  in  all  keys  without 
being  disturbed  by  improper  dissonances. 

The  uupracticalness  of  the  difficult  make  and  tuning  of  these  in- 
struments always  quickly  relegated  them  to  the  background;  but  their 
chief  aim — the  production  of  the  various  keys  in  as  nearly  equal 
purity  as  possible — was  striven  after  in  other  ways. 

Since  the  16th  century,  particularly  in  Germany,  many  schemes 
were  brought  forward  for  rendering  tolerable  the  tuning  of  keyboard 
instruments  furnished  with  12  different  tones  to  the  octave.  Thus, 
among  others,  the  organist  E.  N.  Ammerbach  of  Leipzig,  in  his  "Orgel- 
oder  Instrument-Tab ulatur"*  published  there  in  1571,  gives  in  Chap.  V 
directions  for  the  pui*e  tuning  of  claviers.  First,  he  tunes  to  the 
great  F  a  pure  octave  F-f,  followed  by  the  fifth  f-c' ,  the  fifth  c-g\ 
and  the  minor  third  a  below  c  ;  then  the  octave  a-a  ,  from  the  last 
tone  downward  the  fifth  a'-d',  and  in  like  manner  the  fifth  d'-g,  the 
minor  third  g'-e,  and  the  major  third  g-h  of  the  small  octave. — One  may, 
he  remarks,  begin  either  in  the  treble  or  the  bass,  tuning  the  other 
octaves  according  to  the  tones  established.  The  tones  still  missing, 
c^,  f^,  g^,  are  added  as  major  thirds,  and  the  tones  6l?  and  d^  (el?) 
as  minor  thirds,  to  the  tones  already  tuned,  forming  the  respective 
intervals.  Now,  if  one  octave  be  tuned  after  another,  the  clavier 
will,  in  his  opinion,  be  very  well  tuned. 

It  soon  was  apparent,  that  with  Ammerbach's  pure  tuning  of  the 
fifths  it  was  impossible  that  the  other  intervals  should  likewise  be 
natural  and  pure.  During  the  17th  century  there  consequently 
appeared  numerous  schemes  for  unequal  temperament,  which,  while 
producing  certain  intervals  in  perfect  purity,  gave  others  in  a  decid- 
edly tempered  form.  But  not  until  the  18  th  century  was  a  system 
of  equal  temperament  established  and  inti-oduced,  in  which,  although 
only  the  octaves  were  perfectly  pure,  the  remaining  intervals  deviated 
but  slightly  from  mathematical  exactness. 


*  Described  in  detail  by  C.  F.  Becker  in  "Die  Hausmusik  in  Deutschland", 
Leipzig,  1810,  p.  20  et    seq. 


—     238     — 

Two  highly  meritorious  writers  on  the  temperament  of  keyboard 
instruments  were  Andreas  Werkmeister  (1645 — 1706),  organist  at 
Halberstadt,  and  Joh.  Georg  Neidhardt  (d.  Jan.  1,  1739),  Kapell- 
meister at  Konigsberg.  Werkmeister  was  also  one  of  the  lirst  who 
battled  successfully  against  the  employment  of  the  ecclesiastical  modes, 
which  had  for  a  long  time  not  been  applied  in  their  original  purity. 
In  his  work  (Aschersleben,  1698)  on  "The  necessary  observations  and 
rules  for  the  proper  treatment  of  the  Bassus  continuus,  so  that  anyone 
having  some  slight  knowledge  of  music  and  the  clavier  can  learn  it 
by  himself,  he  remarks  on  p.  50:  "In  modem  composition,  too,  one 
could  get  along  very  well  with  two  modes,  if  they  were  applied 
to  the  tempered  clavier,  and  if  there  were  erected  on  each  key  the 
one  mode,  that  commonly  called  major,  and  thereupon  the  other,  that 
called  minor;  then  we  should  have  24  triaclcs  harmonicas,  and  could  play 
through  the  circle  on  the  clavier". — "The  two  modes  must,  however, 
(thus  he  writes  further  on)  retain  their  accuracy  in  the  amhifu,  reper- 
cussion, clausidis  formalihus,  etc.  (i.  e.  sound  well  in  tune  throughout 
the  repetitions  and  modulations  of  the  fugued  movement)  according 
to  modern  style,  that  no  disharmony  may  creep  in". — "In  their  way, 
the  old  musicians  already  had  their  digressiones ,  and  nevertheless 
they  regarded  as  sacred  the  order  maintained  in  music  by  the  modes; 
and  although  modern  musicians  are  still  hardier  in  their  digressions, 
they  nevertheless  keep  to  a  certain  mode  as  a  norm  or  guide,  so 
that  they  can  remain  in  order,  and  not  make  confusion  worse  con- 
founded".— "All  digressions  or  modulations  must  have  a  rational  motive; 
thus  the  beginner  should  follow  approved  authorities,  not  scribbling 
at  random  whatever  may  come  into  his  goose's-head(!),  and  mutilate, 
spoil,  and  bring  into  discredit  the  noble  art  of  music;  such  are  as- 
suredly degenerate  children  and  changelings,  as  the  late  Dr.  Martin  Luther 
terms  the  abusers  of  music.  Indeed,  every  thing  not  ordered  according 
to  the  laws  of  Nature,  is  monstrous  and  inapt.  In  brief,  as  confusion 
reigns  throughout  the  world,  such  is  at  present  the  case  with  music:  What- 
ever sounds  well  and  finely  is  flouted,  what  soimds  bad  and  wi-oug  is 
esteemed.  Confused  heads  love  confused  music,  and  bewilder  and  mad- 
den the  minds  of  the  hearers:  as  divers  sage  and  learned  men  confirm". 

After  these  angry  attacks  upon  the  unnatural  innovations  and 
daring  ventures  in  the  music  of  Ids  time,  such  as  we  find  repeated 
at  all  times  by  the  most  eminent  theoreticians,  Werkmeister  gives 
on  p.  64  brief  instructions  for  tuning  and  well  tempering  a  clavichord, 
wliich  follow  in  concise  form  below. 


—     239     — 

Anyone  wishing  to  tune  the  clavichord  according  to  the  diatonic 
chromatic  genus,  which  is  most  employed  now-a-days,  to  temper  twelve 
keys  in  an  octave,  and  to  regulate  the  whole  clavier  accordingly, 
may  take  as  starting-point  the  small  c  either  in  chorus  pitch  or 
chamJjcr  pitch.^  Tune  to  this  the  pure  octave  c^,  and  then  the  fifth  g, 
which  must  be  held  a  trifle  lower  than  its  true  pitch  to  c.  To  this 
g  tune  its  fifth  d^,  likewise  holding  it  a  trifle  lower  than  pure  to  g. 
Now  the  lower  octave  of  cZ\  quite  pure;  to  this  d  its  iifth  a,  also 
held  a  trifle  low;  to  a  its  fifth  e\  held  a  very  little  lower  than  true. 
Now  compare  this  e^  with  c^  or  c;  should  this  third  be  tolerable,  and 
not  altogether  too  high,  this  first  trial  results  satisfactorily,  for  all 
major  thirds  must  be  held  somewhat  high  when  struck  with  their 
fundamental.  But  should  the  tone  e^  be  too  sharp  or  high,  the  fifths 
must  be  corrected  and  let  down  a  little,  until  it  becomes  tolerably 
sharp.  Then  tune  to  this  e^  its  lower  octave  pure,  then  the  fifth 
e-h  as  before  a  trifle  low,  then  h  as  the  major  third  of  g  as  above, 
testing  it  with  g-b-d^,  and  taking  this  third  g-h  as  the  second  proof 
of  correct  tuning.  Then  tune  h-f^'i,  holding  it  decidedly  low,  and  to 
this  f^jt  its  pure  lower  octave.  Now  the  thirds  d-f'i  and  d^-f^'^  can 
be  tested,  the  major  third  /"J  having  to  be  somewhat  too  high.  To 
/"it  then  tune  c^Jj  as  a  fiftli  held  a  trifle  too  low;  to  c^8  its  lower 
third  a,  which  like  all  major  thirds  must  be  held  somewhat  high  to 
its  fundamental.  Tune  to  c^Jj  its  pure  lower  octave  eft,  and  then  the 
fifth  g^,  almost  pure.  As  a  test,  take  the  major  third  below.  This 
^ft  is  usually  rather  sharp  to  e,  but  in  view  of  its  function  as  a\f  it 
cannot  be  otherwise  (f-a'9-c^).  To  ^rjt  the  fifth  d^^  is  tuned,  which 
may  be  held  a  very  little  high,  so  as  to  form  a  fair  consonance  in 
the  major  thirds  l-d^^  and  d^{e^)-g.  Then  tune  to  d'^^  its  pure 
lower  octave  d%  and  the  fifth  (^S(e|?)-&[7,  which  may  also  be  held  a 
trifle  high,  in  order  that  the  major  third  h\}-d^  may  be  tolerable.  Then 
tune  f^  to  61?,  again  a  trifle  high,  or  even  pure,  according  as  the 
lower  octave  f  may  sound  with  c*  or  in  the  triad  f-a-c^  as  a  final 
test.  Should  one  or  another  fifth  appear  too  high  or  too  low,  it  must 
always  be  corrected.  The  remaining  tones  of  the  clavier  are  finally 
tuned  as  pure  octaves  of  tones  previously  tuned. 

This  topic  is  grasped  more  definitely  and  scientifically  by  the 
above-mentioned  Neidhardt.     His  first  work  on  the  subject  bears  the 


*  The  chorus  pitch  was  that  of  the  organs  of  the  period,  being  a  whole 
tone  higher  than  the  chamber  pitch  of  secular  music. 


—     240     — 

followiug  title,  explaiuiDg  tlie  contents  of  the  book:  The  best  and 
easiest  temperament  of  the  monocliordi,  by  means  of  which  the  gemis 
diatonico-cJiromaticum  employed  now-a-days  is  so  regulated,  that  all 
intervals  agree  in  proper  proportion  and  uniform  vibration,  and  there- 
fore the  modi  regulares  can  be  transposed  into  each  and  every  key 
in  agreeable  uniformity;  preceded  by  a  treatise  on  the  origin  of 
musical  ratios,  on  the  generibus  musicis,  their  faults,  and  the  short- 
comings of  other  improvements.  The  whole  wi'it  doAvn  thoroughly, 
orderly,  plainly,  and  briefly,  according  to  mathematical  principles,  in 
academical  leisure  hours.     Jena,  1706. 

This  treatise  the  author  followed  up  with  several  others,  each 
improving  on  that  preceding,  and  all  aiming  at  establishing  an  equal 
temperament. 

Mattheson  also  recommends  an  equal  temperament  for  claviers 
in  his  book  "Das  beschiifzte  Orchester"  (The  Protected  Orchestra), 
Hamburg,  1717,  p.  85,  and  condenses  his  opinion  on  the  subject  in 
his  "Vollkommeuer  Capellmeister",  (Hamburg,  1739,  p.  55)  as  follows: 

"Temperament  is  such  a  regulation  of  the  intervals  on  the  cla- 
viers, that  the  one  is  somewhat  lowered,  the  other  somewhat  raised, 
from  its  true  pitch,  in  order  that  all  may  agree  in  as  full  concord  as 
possible.  The  tempering  of  the  clavier  is  therefore  a  matter  of 
necessity,  because  no  moderation  (alteration  of  the  intervals)  can  be 
effected  on  this  instrument  either  with  the  breath  or  with  the  fingers; 
which  is,  on  the  contrary,  easily  done  with  the  human  voice  and  all 
other  sounding  instruments". —"Only  the  claviers  and  harps,  being 
divided  and  measured-off  instruments,  are  subject  to  this  difficulty, 
that  in  tuning  them  one  must  have  recourse  to  tempering,  concerning 
which  such  a  stir  is  made  in  many  books  as  if  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  world  were  bound  up  in  the  clavier  alone.  For  the  human 
voice,  or  wind  and  bowed  instruments,  require  this  makeshift  so  little, 
that  they  can  hit  the  right  pitch  by  the  aid  of  the  breath,  the  fingers, 
or  other  natural  agencies.  Thus  we  may  easily  imagine,  that  any 
tuner  of  the  clavier,  organ,  or  harp  will  regulate  this  temperament 
as  his  ear  is  accustomed,  and  after  his  own  ideas;  for  but  few  of 
these  people  are  capable  of  giving  a  reason  why,  or  explaining  how, 

they  do  anything. The    commonest   manner  of  tempering  which, 

in  vulgar  parlance,  will  do,  depends  on  the  following  three  principles: 

1.  The  octaves,  minor  sixths,  and  minor  tJiirds,  must  always  be  pure. 

2.  To  the  major  sixths  and  the  fourths  a  trifle  is  added.     3.  From 
the  fifths  and  major  thirds,  however,  a  trifle  is  taken.    But  how  much 


—    241     — 

or  how  little  this  trifle  shall  be  is  another  question,  which  very  few 
instrument-tuners  know  anything  about". 

"But,  regarding-  a  more  exact  temperament,  we  have  works  tho- 
roughly and  painstakingly  written  by  Andreas  Werkmeister,  Johann 
Georg  Neidhardt,  Johann  Arnold  Vockerodt,  Christoph  Albert  Sinn,  etc., 
of  which  amateurs  may  take  counsel  on  occasion — the  second  is  more 
especially  to  be  recommended". 

A  pioneer  in  the  theory  of  music,  the  author  and  composer  J.  P. 
Kameau  of  Paris,  was  the  first  practically  to  perfect  the  subject  in 
hand,  his  method  soon  being  universally  adopted  in  Germany  as  well. 
His  fii'St  theoretical  work  appeared  at  Paris  in  1722  under  the  title: 
Traite  de  I'harmonie  r^duite  a  ses  principes  naturels.  A  plain  ex- 
planation and  simplification  of  the  same,  "Elements  de  musique  theo- 
rique  et  pratique  suivant  les  principes  de  M.  Rameau",  by  M.  d'Alem- 
bert,  followed  in  the  year  1752,  and  secured  for  this  theoretician, 
previously  appreciated  by  but  few,  the  recognition  which  he  merited. 
In  this  book  (Part  I,  Ch.  VII,  §  72)  we  find  the  follovidng  directions 
for  tempering  keyboard  instruments,  which  surpass  all  earlier  methods 
in  the  uniform  vibration  of  the  intervals,  and  which  are  still  followed 
in  the  main  by  piano-tuners. 

Take  (so  teaches  Rameau-d'Alembert)  any  key  of  the  piano, 
for  instance  C,  tune  its  fifth  (r,  at  first  quite  pure,  then  lowering  it 
imperceptibly;  tune  to  this  G  its  pure  fifth  Z),  and  then  lower  it 
likewise  a  trifle;  continue  in  like  manner  with  all  fifths  ascending  in 
succession.  On  arriving  at  tlie  last  fifths  aji — ejf  and  ei| — i|$,  the  last 
tone,  &II,  must  exactly  coincide  with  the  initial  tone  c,  that  is,  fonii 
its  pure  octave.  If  this  be  so,  one  may  be  sure  that  the  clavier  is 
well  tuned.  But  if  the  last  fifth  ejf-  &|  (f — c)  is  too  flat,  the  pre- 
ceding fifths,  or  some  of  them,  have  been  too  far  diminished;  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  last  fifth  is  too  sharp,  the  preceding  fifths  have 
not  been  sufficiently  diminished,  and  one  must  go  back  to  make  this 
error  good,  until  all  12  tones  of  the  octave  are  correctly  tuned  by 
this  method.  One  has  then  merely  to  tune  the  octaves  of  these  tones 
exactly  true,  in  order  to  have  a  well-tuned  clavier. 

Friedr.  "Wilhelm  Marpurg,  who  published  d'Alemhert's  work  in 
German  (1757),  says  on  p.  35,  in  a  note  concerning  Piameau's 
temperament : 

Although  one  finds  fewer  altered  thirds  in  the  temperament 
usual  in  Germany  than  in  that  of  M.  Rameau,  the  fifths  are,  on  the 
contrary,  all  the  worse  in  the  former,  and  likewise  many  thirds,   so 

16 


~     242     — 

that  on  a  clavier  tuned  in  this  way  there  will  be  five  or  six 
intolerable  keys  in  which  nothing  can  be  played.  In  J\r.  Rameau's 
temperament,  on  the  other  hand,  all  the  keys  are  equally  good.* 

In  his  epoch-making  work,  "The  Theory  of  the  Sensations  of 
Tone",  (Fourth  Ed.,  Brunswick,  1877),  Helmholtz  has  written  in  a 
erudite  and  liberal  spirit  on  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
the  tempered  tuning  of  keyboard  instruments  (pp.  508 — 533,  Appen- 
dix XVIII).  From  his  theories,  which  are  always  the  outcome  of 
personal  experiment  and  experience,  I  quote  the  following  (4th  ed., 
p.  506): 

"Starting  from  C,  as  shown  before,  we  pass  through  a  series  of 
pure  fifths  to  J^,  which  differs  from  C  by  only  about  one-half  a  semi- 
tone, namely  by  the  interval  of  74/73.  Descending  from  C  through 
12  successive  fifths  we  reach  c?bb,  which  is  as  much  lower  than  C 
as  &|  is  higher.  Taking  c-b'i[- d\?\>^  and  dividing  the  slight  deviation 
of  74/73  equally  among  all  twelve  fifths  of  each  circle,  each  fifth  will 
be  about  1/60  of  a  semitone  impure,  which  is,  indeed,  a  very  slight 
deviation;  Thus  all  differences  between  the  degrees  within  an  octaVe 
are  derived  from  the  12  degrees,  as  we  have  them  in  our  modern 
keyboard  instruments".  —  "The  thirds  and  sixths  in  equal  tempera- 
ment are  more  nearly  pure  than  the  Pythagorean  intervals". 

"There  can  be  no  question",  Helmholtz  observes  further  on,  "that 
the  system  of  equal  temperament,  on  acount  of  its  simplicity,  pos- 
sesses extraordinary  advantages  for  instrumental  music;  that  any  other 
system  would  require  a  far  more  complicated  mechanism  of  the  in- 
struments and  render  them  far  more  difficult  to  manage,  and  in  con- 


*  Contributions  to  the  literature  of  Temperament  are  contained  in  Ad- 
lung's  "Anlagen  zur  mus.  Gelalirtheit",  2nd  ed.,  pp.  318 — 337,  and  in  "Mus. 
mech.  organoedi",  U,  22,  same  author.  In  the  systematic  chronological  view 
of  musical  literature  by  C.  F.  Becker  (2  Parts,  Leipzig,  1836  and  1838),  in- 
cluding the  similar  work  by  Forkel,  we  find  over  85  treatises  dating  from 
1688  to  1838  on  the  division  of  the  monochord,  and  on  the  tuning  and  tempe- 
rament of  keyboard  instruments.  This  list  contains  the  works  of  Werkmeister, 
Neidhardt,  Kirnberger,  the  Abbe  Vogler,  Marpurg,  Turk,  and  Scheibler.  The 
invention  of  the  latter,  the  establishment  of  equal  temperament  by  means 
of  vibrations,  was  first  made  known  and  intelligible  through  the  essay  by 
Dr  Lohr,  "On  the  Invention  of  Scheibler"  (tjber  die  Scheibler'sche  Erfin- 
dung).  The  "Catalogue  de  la  bibliotheque  de  F.  J.  Fetis",  issued  at  Brussels 
in  1877,  also  contains  39  treatises  on  our  topic  in  German,  French,  English, 
and  Italian.  M.  Hauptmaun  published  a  valuable  essay  on  Temperament  in 
the  "Jahrbiicher  fiir  mus.  Wissenschaft",  1863. 


—     243     -- 

sequence,  that  the  high  deyelopment  of  modem  instrumental  music 
was  possible  only  under  the  domination  of  the  tempered  system  of 
tuning.  But  one  must  not  think  that  the  difference  between  the 
tempered  and  natural  systems  is  a  mathematical  subtility  of  no  prac- 
tical value.  Actual  observation  at  a  suitably  tuned  instrument  imme- 
diately shows,  that  this  difference  is  striking  enough  to  be  noticed 
by  persons  of  very  ordinary  musical  talent.  Moreover,  we  see 
directly  that  the  same  thing  was  felt  by  earlier  musicians  who  were 
still  accustomed  to  the  pure  intervals  of  vocal  music  then  veiy 
carefully  studied,  when  we  cast  a  glance  over  musical  treatises  of 
the  second  half  of  the  17th  and  first  half  of  the  18th  centuries,  at 
which  time  the  introduction  of  various  systems  of  equal  tempera- 
ment was  the  subject  of  warm  controversy,  when  methods  on  methods 
were  invented  and  rejected,  aiming  at  conquering  the  difficulty,  and 
most  ingenious  styles  of  instruments  were  contrived  for  the  practical 
realization  of  the  enharmonic  differences  between  the  degrees". 

A  mathematically  pure  musical  system  can  neither  be  worked  out 
theoretically  nor  carried  out  practically.  True,  in  the  diatonic  system 
of  Pythagoras  the  fifths  and  fourths,  and  likewise  the  octaves,  are 
all  fixed  in  exact  and  pure  proportions;  but  the  thirds  and  sixths  form- 
ed of  the  tones  F  C  G  D  A  E  B  deviate  more,  as  we  have  learn- 
ed before,  from  their  natural  purity,  than  those  of  our  equal  temper- 
ament. 

When  musically  gifted  vocalists  sing  without  accompaniment,  they 
always  stiike  pure  intervals  only;  but  with  a  melodic  series  of  tones, 
or  a  succession  of  chords  executed  with  exact  purity,  they  are  unable 
to  maintain  the  pitch  at  which  they  began. 

Even  the  following  short  example  proves  that  a  singer  taking 
its  intervals  with  mathematical  purity  will,  on  reaching  the  fifth  tone, 
no  longer  be  in  unison  with  the  tone  of  the  same  name  on  which 
he  began,  but  must  have  flatted  by  a  comma  (81 :  80). 
80  96  72         108  81 


r\ 

WJ. 

\J 

^^ 

^^m               ^^ 

/v 

f/^k 

/V 

^     |(^ 

%) 

5:6     4:3     2:3     4:3 

Here  the  lower  figures  give  the  pure  proportions  of  the  inter- 
vals, and  the  upper  ones  the  corresponding  division  of  a  string. 

When  the  singers,  however,  are  supported  by  a  trained  orchestra, 
they  not  only  execute  the  melodies  and  full  chords  in  naturally  pure 
intervals,    but  also  hold  the  pitch  established  by  the  orchestra.     For 

16* 


—     244     — 

the  orchestral  instruments,  wielded  by  human  hands,  are  able  like  the 
singers  to  reinforce  the  pure  fifths  and  octaves  by  pure  thirds  and 
sixths,  or  to  sharp  or  flat  these  latter  slightly  in  case  of  necessity. 
But  when  so-called  "enharmonic  transitions"  are  executed  with  harsh 
impurity  by  singers  and  insti'umentalists ,  this  is  always  the  fault  of 
the  composer,  who  has  placed  two  keys  side  by  side  on  an  equal 
footing  which  stand  in  no  rational  degree  of  relationship  one  to  the 
other.  Only  the  well-tempered  pianoforte,  with  its  fixed  tones,  can 
easily  and  intelligibly  reproduce  such  enharmonic  modulations,  be- 
cause the  hearer  does  not  perceive  the  change  of  key,  but  follows 
up  the  harmony  first  heard,  which,  it  is  true,  ought  finally  to  lead 
to  a  satisfactory  close,  this  being  unhappily  often  not  the  case. 

While  it  is  impossible  for  the  unaccompanied  singer  to  maintain 
perfect  purity  in  the  intervals,  without  at  the  same  time  leaving  the 
original  pitch,  the  pianoforte,  on  the  other  hand,  can  never  attain 
perfect  purity  of  tuning  by  a  multiplication  of  its  tones  and  keys. 
Equal  temperament,  however,  avoids  both  these  dangerous  reefs,  and 
deviates  so  imperceptibly  from  absolute  purity  that  our  most  eminent 
composers  have  always  given  preference  to  the  well-tempered  piano- 
forte, and  have  dedicated  to  it  their  most  pregnant  works. 


***  Further    Development   of  the   Clavichord   and 

Harpsichord. 

Far  from  being  content  with  "the  highest  pitch  of  perfection 
in  the  clavier"  lauded  by  Lusciuius  in  1536  and  Bontempi  in  1695, 
endeavors  were  continually  making  in  Germany,  France,  Italy  and 
England  to  render  the  instrument  more  practical  and  agreeable  in 
regard  to  compass,  tone,  and  touch.  Thus  the  strings  were  sometimes 
of  brass,  sometimes  of  steel  or  gut;  the  soundboard  was  variously  adjusted 
and  enlarged,  each  tone  was  furnished  with  2,  3,  or  even  4  like-tuned 
strings  (unisons),  which  were  set  in  vibration  by  tangents  of  metal,  whale- 
bone, or  leather.  Furthermore,  these  instruments  were  frequently 
provided  with  several  keyboards,  one  often  being  in  the  relation  of 
an  octave  to  the  other,  and  capable  of  employment  either  separately 
or  "coupled".  Finally,  they  were  also  fui-nished  with  stops,  combi- 
nations, and  registers,  which  damped  or  reinforced  the  tone,  or  united 
the  keyboard  with  an  organ,  or  even  with  bells,  cymbals,  or  drums* 


—     245     — 

During  the  17tli  century  harpsichords  were  often  imported  from 
France  into  Germany,  where  the  clavichord  was  peculiarly  affected; 
about  the  year  1680  the  clavichord-maker  Mietcke  of  Charlottenburg 
near  Berlin  was  one  of  the  first  to  succeed,  after  many  attempts,  in 
building  harpsichords  of  equally  good  quality.  He  palmed  off  his 
first  successful  harpsichord  as  a  French  instrument,  and  received  for 
it  the  sum  of  300  thalers.  But  when  it  became  known  that  he  him- 
self was  the  maker  of  these  instruments,  their  price  fell  so  that,  al- 
though generally  admitted  to  be  excellent,  only  from  60  to  80  thalers 
were  paid  for  them, 

Mietcke's  contemporary  Mattheson,  who  records  this  fact  in  the 
copy  of  the  "Neu-Eroffneten  Orehester"  now  in  my  possession,  calls 
attention  to  it  on  page  213  of  this  work  by  the  following  censure: 

"In  almost  all  matters  a  shameful  state  of  things  prevails  here 
at  home  —  that  we  perversely  choose  to  favor  everything  coming  from 
abroad,  not  invariably  because  it  is  fine  and  good,  but  simply  because 
it  is  foreign,  above  our  native  persons  and  thiugs,  not  because  the 
latter  are  bad  or  common,  but  simply  and  solely  because  they  are 
home  products;  to  favor  and  honor  creatures,  who  are  often  not  worth 
powder  and  shot,  and  who  worm  themselves  in  by  intrigue  and  plots 
(if  they  are  only  foreigners);  and  on  the  contrary  to  despise  and 
slight  much  that  may  be  found  in  our  own  country,  in  our  town,  our 
house,  even  though  on  careful  examination  it  may  excel." 

Further  on  in  the  above  work,  which  was  published  in  1713, 
Mattheson  remarks  (p.  262)  that  the  full-toned  (vollstimmigen)  claviers 
surpass  all  other  instruments,  and  that  the  two  brothers  Eticker 
(Kuckers?)  of  Brabant  had  done  good  work  and  gained  a  reputation 
as  the  makers  of  square  and  wingshaped  harpsichords;  also  that  the 
fine  and  workmanlike  clavichords  of  von  Brock  en,  Middleburg,  and 
Fleischer,  with  their  strong  and  clear  resonance,  were  held  in  high 
esteem.  He  says,  moreover,  that  the  harpsichord,  with  its  great 
versatility  (Universite),  furnished  an  almost  indispensable  foundation 
in  accompanying  sacred,  theatre,  and  chamber  music,  but  that  pieces 
with  modern  and  showy  technique  (Hand-  und  Gdlantcrie-Sachen) 
could  be  brought  out  best  and  cleanest  on  a  good  claAdchord,  as  the 
latter  produced  the  singing  tone  far  more  plainly,  sustained  and 
softened,  than  the  harpsichord  or  spinet,  with  their  even  resonance 
of  tone.  "Whoever  would  hear  a  delicate  hand  (fist!)  and  clean 
technique  (so  he  exclaims),  must  seat  his  candidate  at  a  well-made 
clavichord;  for  on  a  great  harpsichord,  provided  with  3  or  4  stops 


—     246     — 

or  registers,  much  slurring  will  escape  the  ear,  and  one  will  hardly 
hear  the  graces  distinctly". 

In  the  clavichords,  as  remarked  before,  the  tangents  or  pins  of 
3  or  4  neighboring  keys  struck  one  and  the  same  string  in  different 
places,  and  therefore  produced,  on  striking,  just  so  many  diiferent 
tones.  Now  these  tones  could  be  sti-uek  in  succession,  but  never 
played  together.  All  works  touching  on  our  topic  name  D.  T.  Faber 
as  the  inventor,  who  first  made  (about  1732)  a  hundfreies  Clavier,  in 
which  each  key  had  one  string  or  one  set  of  unisons  allotted  to  it. 
This  item,  however,  is  taken  in  all  eases  from  Walther's  "Musika- 
lisches  Lexicon",  issued  in  1732.  But  the  article  in  question  reads 
literally:  Faber  (Daniel  Tobias),  organist  at  Craylsheim,  "has  invent- 
ed a  clavichord  which  is  Bundfreij  throughout,  and  can  be  modified 
by  various  adjustments  in  three  ways  so  as  to  sound  (1)  like  a  lute, 
(2)  like  one,  in  which  the  resonance  is  undamped,  and  (3)  like  a 
muffled  GJocJcenspiel  (set  of  small  bells).  See  Extract  from  the  Co- 
burgiscJie  Zeitung  of  April,  1725,  p.  78". 

Should  this  last-named  source  not  enter  more  into  detail,  Faber's 
invention  would  seem  to  consist  either  only  in  the  clavichord  built 
btindfrei  "throughout",  or  even  simply  in  the  lute-stop  and  bell-stop 
added  to  the  same.  For  it  is  highly  probable  that  attempts  were 
made  even  previous  to  the  date  of  this  extract  to  obviate  the  diffi- 
eulty  complained  of. 

Even  in  those  clavichords  which  were  hundfrei  throughout  the 
keys  were  still  fashioned  in  the  strangest  curves,  to  enable  the  tan- 
gents to  strike  their  proper  strings.  The  organist  K.  Lemme,  living 
at  Brunswick  about  1780,  was  the  first  to  succeed  in  giving  the  keys 
a  straight  action,  and  consequently  a  lighter  touch.  In  the  year  1771 
he  and  his  father  also  invented  the  pressed  soundboard  so  firmly 
united  that  it  could  not  be  torn  apart.  Lemme  also  built  clavichords 
of  a  pleasing,  oval-round  form,  with  a  fine  sti-ong  tone. 

The  pedal,  invented  for  his  instrument*  by  Beruhard  Murer 
(called  Bernadino),  organist  at  Venice  in  1445,  in  order  to  lend  greater 
power  to  the  bass  tones  of  the  organ  through  the  additon  of  lower 
octaves,  was  early  added  to  the  clavichord  and  hai-psichord  as  well, 
both  of  which  doubtless  profited  by  such  a  reinforcement.  As  we 
have  seen,  Virdung  mentions  the  same  as  early  as  1511,  and  Adlung 
describes  the  pedals  of  the  clavichord  in  detail  in  both  of  his  works 
given  above. 

*  See  Caffi,  Storia  della  musica  sacra,  Venezia,  1855,  Vol.  II,  p.  14. 


—     247     — 

The  stops  or  registers  sometimes  Jiddecl  to  the  claA'iehords  were 
conti-oUed  hy  the  player's  bands  or  feet,  and  were  intended  to  soften 
or  reinforce  the  tone  of  the  instrument.  For  instance,  tlie  in  any 
event  mild  tone  of  the  clavichord  was  still  further  damped  by 
shaping  its  metallic  tangents  somewhat  broader  than  usual,  and  then 
covering  one  half  of  each  with  leather  or  cloth.  The  celestina 
or  lute-stop  would  bring  this  softer  half  to  bear  on  the  strings, 
whereas  a  pantaleon  or  harp-stop  made  sharper  pins  or  metallic  jacks 
strike  the  latter. 

In  Germany  continuous  efforts  were  made  to  perfect  the  cla- 
vichord there  in  general  use,  the  harpsichord  being  employed  almost 
exclusively  as  a  support  for  vocal  choruses,  and  seldom  as  a  solo 
instrument  accompanied  by  the  orchestra.  C.  Ph.  E.  Bach  published, 
among  other  pieces,  Concertos  for  harpsichord  in  1745  and  1752. 

In  France  the  clavecins,  and  their  smaller  size,  the  epinettes, 
were  preferred  to  the  clavichords,  and  the  Parisian  instrument-makers 
were  mainly  occupied  in  their  improvement,  also  finding  frequent  sale 
for  them  abroad. 

At  first  the  harpsichords  had  but  one  keyboard,  like  the  spinets. 
Later  they  were  provided  with  two,  lying  stepwise  one  above  the 
other,  and  then  two  unisons  were  added.  Sometimes  each  of  these 
two  strings  had  a  separate  jack.  In  this  case,  when  the  upper  key- 
board was  played  on,  only  one  string  would  be  plucked,  while  the 
lower  keyboard  coupled  the  upper,  thus  setting  both  strings  in  vibra- 
tion and  giving  the  harpsichord  a  redoubled  tone,  especially  when, 
as  often  happened,  the  upper  keyboard  was  tuned  an  octave  higher 
than  the  lower. 

One  of  the  oldest  and  most  renowned  clavier  manufactories,  that 
of  the  Kuckers  family  at  Antwerp,  is  often  mentioned  with  praise 
by  the  earlier  writers  in  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  France,  and 
England.* 

Hans  Kuckers,  the  first  master  in  tliis  family,  built  harpsichords 
and  spinets  as  early  as  the  latter  half  of  the  16  th  century,  which, 
according  to  detailed  accounts  by  Hiillmandel,  the  celebrated  pupil 


*  Compare  W.  de  Burbure,  Recherches  sur  les  factevirs  de  clavecins  et  lea 
luthiers  d'Aiivers.  Bnixelles,  Hayez,  1863. — Fetis,  Biogr.  des  mLis.,  VII,  246. — 
E.  van  der  Straeten,  la  Mus.  aux  Pays-bas.  Bruxelles,  Muquardt,  1867,  p.  65 
etc. — Encycl.  metli.,  Musique,  Paris,  1791,  p.  286. — Chouquet,  Le  niiis6e  du  con- 
servat.,  Paris,  Didot,  1875,  p.  46. — Burney,  Tlie  present  state  of  mus.  in  Ger- 
macy.     London,  1755,  I. — Cramer,  Magaz.  I,  392. 


—     248     — 

of  Em.  Bacli,  excelled  all  former  instruments  of  this  kind.  He  gave 
the  harpsichords  a  stronger,  fuller,  and  more  brilliant  tone  by  adding 
to  each  pair  of  strings  tuned  in  unison  a  third  string,  shorter  and  of 
finer  wire,  tuned  to  their  higher  octave.  For  the  low  tones  he  used 
copper  strings,  for  the  higher  ones  steel  strings,  and  extended  the 
compass  of  the  harpsichords  by  four  tones,  by  giving  them  four  full 
octaves,  from  contra-C  to  three-lined  &".  Ruckers  added  a  second 
keyboard  to  his  harpsichords,  one  keyboard  sounding  all  three  strings, 
and  the  other  but  one  string.  He  paid  most  careful  attention  to  the 
broader  or  narrower  grain  of  the  soundboard,  and  also  to  its  thickness, 
in  order  to  obtain  a  tone  of  the  gi-eatest  "carrying"  power,  and 
altogether  brought  the  low  and  high  tones  into  an  harmonious  relation 
unknown  in  the  older  harpsichords.  His  claviers  were  well-known 
and  sought  for  not  only  in  the  Netherlands,  but  were  also  shipped 
in  considerable  numbers  to  France,  Germany,  and  England. 

Of  the  make  of  this  Hans  Ruckers  "le  vieux"  the  museum  of 
the  Paris  Conservatory  possesses,  as  No.  221,  a  harpsichord  (clavecin) 
of  the  year  1590,  with  two  keyboards.  No.  222  is  a  similar  instru- 
ment, made  by  Hans  Ruckers  "le  jeune",  the  under  side  of  the  cover 
and  the  finger-board  being  ornamented  with  admirable  paintings  by 
masters  of  that  period.  F6tis  owned  a  spinet,  by  Ruckers  the  Elder, 
with  two  keyboards  (6pinette  double),  the  upper  being  tuned  an 
octave  higher  than  the  lower;  they  could  be  played  either  separately 
or  together  "with  the  finest  eifect".  The  instrument  bore  the  in- 
scription: Hans  Ruckers  me  fecit  Antverpiae,  1610. 

Three  sons  of  the  aforesaid  firm  kept  alive  their  father's  brilliant 
renown.  They  were  named  Francis  (b.  1576),  Hans  "le  jeune" 
(b.  1578),  and  Andre  (bapt.  1579),  who  later  assumed  the  to-name  of 
"le  vieux"  to  distinguish  him  from  his  son,  Andre  Ruckers  le  jeune. 
The  instruments  of  this  last  master  are  said  even  to  have  surpassed 
those  of  his  predecessors  in  fullness  of  tone  and  excellent  workman- 
ship. The  best  artists  of  Antwerp,  more  particularly  the  painter  of 
flowers  and  animals,  Franck,  adorned  them  with  neatly  executed 
paintings,  for  which  reason  they  often  brought  3000  francs.  These 
adornments,  however,  were  later  frequently  the  cause  of  the  demo- 
lition of  the  instruments,  being  detached  from  them  and  turned  to 
account  as  independent  paintings. 

The  clavecins  made  in  Antwerp  still  enjoyed  high  favor  till 
toward  the  end  of  the  18  th  century.  In  1750  a  manufactory  was 
established  there  by  J.  D.  Dulcken,  a  Hessian  by  birth,  whose  clave- 


—     249     — 

cins  raDked  among  the  best  of  that  period.  From  his  workshops 
came  J.  P.  Bull,  whose  harpsichords  sold  for  100  ducats,  and  were 
highly  extolled,  especially  by  Burney.  The  latter  terms  them  "double 
harpsichords",  which  simply  means  a  harpsichord  having  two  key- 
boards. The  Museum  of  Antiquities  at  Antwei'p  possesses  one  of 
these  with  the  inscription:  Joannes  Petrus  Bull  me  fecit  Antvei-piae 
anno  1779. 

To  avoid,  or  at  least  to  simplify,  the  tedious  and  expensive 
"quilling"  of  the  harpsichords,  many  experiments  were  made  during 
the  18th  century  in  Germany,  France,  and  Italy.  Thus  the  instru- 
ment-maker Wiclef  of  Anspach,  about  1740,  used  small  brass  ad- 
justments instead  of  quills.  To  his  harpsichords  he  also  added  bells, 
tuned  true  by  turning. 

Of  wider  influence,  however,  were  the  "clavecins  a  buffles"  or 
"en  peau  de  buffles",  invented  by  the  Netherlander  Pascal  Taskin  at 
Paris  in  the  year  1768.  He  employed,  for  one  register  or  stop  of 
his  trichord  clavecin,  bits  of  ox-leather  instead  of  quills,  and  the 
French  recorder  of  the  invention  praises  it  by  saying:  "II  ne  pince 
plus,  mais  il  caresse  le  corde"  (it  no  longer  plucks,  but  caresses,  the 
string),  and  adds,  its  sweet,  velvety-soft  tone  swells  at  pleasure  under 
the  pressure  of  the  player's  hand.  By  means  of  various  stops,  go- 
verned by  the  pressure  of  the  knee  and  later  of  the  foot,  either  the 
quills  or  the  leather  tangents  could  be  made  to  act  separately  or 
together,  and  the  strings  sounded  softly  or  loudly  at  will. 

A  German  eye-witness.  Kapellmeister  Vogler  of  Paris,  writes 
concerning  the  new  invention:  "They  are  harpsichords  of  the  finest 
make.  Each  has  2  keyboards  with  three  strings,  the  third  tuned  in  the 
octave,  with  the  lute-stop.  Herein  they  do  not  differ  from  other 
harpsichords.  The  new  invention,  however,  adds  to  the  above  another 
row  of  a  so-called  "jeu  de  buffle",  through  which  the  ])ass  obtains  a 
magnificent  double-bass  effect  hitherto  unknown".  —  The  price  was 
from  1500  to  3000  livi-es.* 

From  the  following  accounts  of  German  and  Italian  clavicembali, 
reaching  well  into  the  sera  of  the  pianoforte,  it  is  evident  that 
Taskin's  invention  was  both  known  and  speedily  imitated  outside  of 
France. 


*  See  La  Borde,  Essai  sur  la  mus.,  1780,  I,  346  et  seq.— Cramer,  Magazin 
der  Music,  1783,  I,  209.— J.  H.  Mees,  Abr6g6  Mst.  sur  la  mus.  moderne  etc., 
Bruxelles,  1828,  p.  60. 


—     250     — 

The  harpsichords  built  subsequently  to  1773  by  the  instrument- 
maker  Joh.  Chr.  Oesterlin  of  Berlin  were  eagerly  sought  for  and 
widely  disseminated.  The  harpsichords  which  he  furnished  with  a 
newly  invented  kind  of  leathern  tangents  were  special  favorites.  The 
cembalo  angelico,  invented  at  Rome  about  1778,  also  had  tangents  of 
leather,  which  were  covered  besides  with  velvet,  in  order  to  obtain 
\  as  soft  a  tone  as  possible. 

In  the  year  1775  J.  G.  Wagner  of  Dresden  advertised  a  newly 
invented  "clavecin  royal",  which,  though  built  in  clavichord-form,  was 
said  to  have  the  full  tone  of  a  harpsichord.  It  had  4  pedals,  which 
swelled  or  diminished  the  tone  at  will,  and  which  were  intended  to 
imitate  the  harp,  lute,  pantaleon  and  pianoforte.  His  co-worker  and 
surviving  younger  brother,  Ch.  Sal.  Wagner,  is  said  to  have  obtained 
the  forte  and  piano  effects  in  his  harpsichords  "by  means  of  the 
cover"*,  and  besides  this  to  have  added  3  combinations  without 
pipes,  yet  "imitating  to  illusion"  the  flute,  clavichord,  and  bassoon. 
How  far  this  illusion  went  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that  the 
bassoon-stop,  for  instance,  let  down  a  narrow  roll  of  paper  upon  the 
lower  strings,  the  latter  then  giving  out  a  jarring  tone  when  struck. 
Up  to  1796  he  had  built  no  less  than  772  harpsichords,  the  finest  of 
which  cost  some  600  thalers. 

The  shifting  of  the  keyboard  was  known  as  early  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  17th  century.  Praetorius,  in  his  Syntagma  musicum  (1614), 
mentions  a  clavicembalo  whose  key  C  could  be  shifted  by  a  stop  to 
come  under  Cj?,  Dj?,  D,  E^,  D^,  and  E,  thus  affording  a  convenient 
method  of  transposing  within  this  compass,  and  also,  by  reason  of  the 
enharmonic  tones  present,  of  playing  in  nearly  perfect  tune.  Adlung, 
in  his  Mus.  mech,  organoedi,  gives  a  detailed  description  of  such  a 
"transposing  clavicembalo",  praising  it  especially  because  one  could 
play  both  in  the  chorus-pitch  and,  by  shifting  the  keyboard,  in  the 
true  chamber-pitch  l^j^  tones  lower  as  well. 

We  have  no  exact  description  of  the  "cimbali  piegatori"  of 
Gioseppe  Mendini  in  the  17th  century,  but  can  get  a  notion  of 
them  from  the  "clavecins  brises"  which  the  instrument-maker  Marius 


*  This  was  probably  the  adjustment  also  called,  when  occurring  later,  the 
"crescendo",  in  which  the  cover  above  the  strings  was  similar  to  the  sound- 
board. This  cover  consisted  of  several  thin,  narrow  layers  of  wood,  which 
could  be  spread  apart  or  brought  close  together  like  a  fan  by  means  of  a 
pedal  stop,  the  resonance  of  the  strings  thus  issuing  loudly,  or  being  stifled, 
by  the  apparently  closed  cover. 


—     251     — 

''invented"  in  1700,  and  which  probably  resembled  them  not  only  in 
name  but  also  in  arrangement.  Of  these  latter  a  specimen  is  still 
extant  in  the  Museum  of  the  Paris  Conservatory,  as  No.  224.  Its 
three  parts,  Avhen  placed  one  above  another,  find  room  in  a 
small  trunk.  The  inventor,  according  to  his  advertisement,  even 
stowed  the  instrument  in  a  wig-box,  and  states  its  weight  at  only 
from  10  to  12  pounds.  The  longest  of  the  strings,  which  were  set 
in  vibration  by  metallic  tangents,  was  but  two  feet  in  length,  though 
having,  as  he  says,  the  tone  of  clavichords  7  feet  long.  Marius,  in 
1716,  laid  before  the  Paris  Academy  4  models  of  hammer-claviers^ 
(clavecins  a  maillets),  to  which  we  shall  return  further  on. 

Altogether,  during  the  18th  century,  so  many  "new  inventions'^ 
were  advertised,  which  were  intended  to  reinforce  the  tone  of  the  cla- 
vichord, soften  that  of  the  harpsichord,  improve  tone  and  touch  of 
the  recent  hammer-clavier,  and  perfect  all  tliese  instruments  by  "new 
combinations",  registers,  and  stops,  that  the  musical  periodicals  had 
standing  headings  devoted  to  the  topic.  Striking  names  were  bestowed 
upon  the  claviers  provided  by  their  inventors  with  innumerable  con- 
trivances, in  order  to  attract  purchasers,  and  the  foremost  clavier- 
makers  of  the  time  held  it  to  be  a  point  of  honor  to  add  something 
new  and  peculiar  to  their  instruments.  "The  gentlemen  are  so  fond 
of  inventing,  even  though  it  be  naught  but  new  names!"  cries  Cra- 
mer in  1783  in  his  Magazin  der  Music,  replete  with  such  striking 
advertisements. 

The  plainly  perceptible  endeavor  to  give  the  clavichords  and 
harpsichords  a  fuller  and  more  singing  tone  was,  at  the  same  time, 
a  struggle  for  existence  on  the  part  of  these  instruments.  The  hammer- 
clavier  invented  before  1711  by  Christofori,  and  since  then  incessatly 
more  effectively  developed,  crowned  the  aforesaid  endeavor  with 
success,  while  bringing  the  two  other  instruments  alluded  to,  until 
then  universally  esteemed,  into  desuetude. 

A  History  of  the  Clavier  cannot  pass  by  unnoticed  the  eflforts 
made  to  keep  alive  the  interest  in  the  earlier  claviers  by  means  of 
improvement  and  alterations.  The  most  striking  of  these  "inventions" 
will  find  brief  mention  below,  although  they  were  in  great  part 
soon  forgotten  again,  while  but  few  of  them  were  of  use  to  the  new 
pianoforte. 

Joh.  Christoph  Fleischer,  an  instrument-maker  living  at  Hambui'g 
about  1718,  in  praise  of  whom  Mattheson  is  quoted  above,  was  the 


—     252     — 

inventor  of  tlie  so-called  Tlieorhen-Flugel*  with  16-foot  tone,  i.  e. 
pitched  an  octave  lower  than  the  ordinary  claviers  with  8-foot  tone. 
This  contra-harpsichord  was  furnished  with  3  registers,  one  sounding 
the  gut  strings  and  the  other  the  metal  strings.  Moreover,  he  made 
"Lautenclaviere"  (lute-claviers)  of  ordinary  compass,  having  gut  strings 
tuned  in  pairs,  and  took  from  60  to  1000  thalers  for  his  insruments. 

Franz  Jacoh  Spath  of  Katisbon  presented  to  the  Elector  at  Bonn 
in  1751  a  "Tangenten-Fltigel"  without  quills,  having  30  combinations, 
and  in  1770  even  made  one  with  50  combinations,  having  a  piano- 
stop,  forte,  echo,  gut-string,  barp,  and  other  stops. 

Forkel  mentions,  in  his  Musihalisclie  Bihliothek^  I,  298,  that  the 
clavier-teacher  M.  de  Virb6s  of  Paris  invented  in  1771  a  '•  lavecin 
acoustique",  which  could  imitate  18  different  instruments,  and  this 
merely  with  the  ordinary  strings  of  the  harpsichord.  This  imitation 
was  said  to  be  so  exact,  that  a  symphony  could  be  played  with  the 
same  effect  as  if  executed  by  a  great  orchestra;  except  that  the 
nature  of  the  instrument  caused  all  sounds  to  be  heard  as  "pinc^s". 
About  1777  de  Virb6s  again  announced  a  new  instrument  under  the 
name  of  the  "clavecin  harmonieux  et  celeste",  having  much  the  same 
character,  imitating  14  instruments,  such  as  the  lute,  harp,  flute,  oboe, 
clarinet,  bassoon,  celestine,  hai-monica,  etc.,  and  producing  the  tones 
either  pianissimo,  crescendo,  or  fortissimo. 

Among  the  instrument-makers  who  strove  to  add  new  inventions 
to  their  already  excellent  work,  we  also  find  J.  G.  Jiirgensen,  who 
flourished  in  Schleswig  about  1783.  He  built  clavichords  "ranking 
in  singing  tone  and  power  with  those  of  Friederici,  Kramer,  Lemmi, 
and  of  Moller  in  Copenhagen."  He  also  invented  a  "clavecin  royal", 
which,  as  he  announced,  aftorded  12  changes  or  combinations  imitating 
the  sound  of  the  harpsichord,  fortepiano,  harp,  lute,  and  other  instru- 
ments at  the  player's  discretion,  by  means  of  2  draw-stops  and  as 
many  pedals,  and  produced  a  more  powerful  forte  by  opening  the  cover 
above  the  strings.  The  instrument  was  in  clavichord-form,  lY^  ells 
long  by  a  scant  ell  broad,  and  cost  60  ducats.  Besides  this  instru- 
ment, Jtirgensen  also  exhibited  a  "belsona  real"  having  5  draw-stops, 
which  were  said  to  produce  over  48  changes  by  their  various  com- 
bination. 

Forkel  reports,  in  the  MusiJcaliscJie  MUiotheTi  for  1779,  that  the 
instrument-maker  Hofmann  of  Gotha  had  contrived  a  "double  olave- 


*  The  gi-eat  bass-lute  was  named  "Theorbo". 


—    253     — 

ciu".  On  either  side  of  the  same  were  two  keyboards,  to  be  played 
by  two  executants  together,  or,  when  coupled,  by  one  player.  Joh. 
Andi'cas  Stein,  who  will  receive  special  mention  in  the  Histoiy  of  the 
Pianoforte,  also  invented  at  Augsburg  a  double  harpsichord,  which 
he  named  a  "vis-a-vis".  On  occasion  of  a  journey  to  Paris  in 
1758  he  conti'ived  a  concert  instrument  combining  the  harpsichord 
still  most  in  favor  there  with  the  pianoforte,  and  in  such  fashion, 
that  each  of  these  instruments  had  its  strings  and  soundboard  inde- 
pendent of  the  other. 

J.  P.  Milchmeyer,  mechanician,  clavier-teacher,  and  author  of  a 
pianoforte  method,  invented  about  1781  a  "mechanical  fliigel",  with 
three  keyboards  and  no  less  then  250  combinations,  said  to  be  pro- 
duced by  combining  the  several  stops,  which  were  nearly  always 
alike  in  all  the  "new  inventions"  so  portentously  puffed.  The  me- 
chanician Mercia  of  London  alone  succeeded,  in  1783,  in  producing 
a  harpsichord  with  really  new  effects,  having  hit  upon  the  device  of 
titillating  his  hearers'  ears  by  "delusively  imitated  trumpets"  and 
real  drums. 

Despite  all  these  noises  happily  not  heard,  but  only  read  of,  we 
have  nevertheless  not  yet  reached  the  summit  of  the  Parnassus  of 
wonder-instruments.  For  upon  that  height  there  shines  a  work  of  art, 
which  must  needs  be  described  at  length,  left  unfinished  by  a  bell- 
founder  of  Prague,  and  finished  by  the  Doctor  of  Philosophy  and 
Medicine  Vincenz  von  Blaha,  Professor  in  the  University  at  Prague. 
The  latter  not  only  finished  the  said  instrument,  which  combined  a 
hammer-clavier  (with  which  we  need  not  occupy  ourselves  here)  with 
various  other  instruments,  in  the  year  1795,  but  likewise  furnished 
it  with  original  and  doubtless  highly  important  additions.  The  in- 
strument was  in  the  ordinary  shape  of  a  harpsichord,  beneath  which, 
behind  green  curtains,  the  entire  apparatus  for  Turkish  music,  such 
as  a  drum,  triangle,  etc.,  was  placed,  and  set  in  motion  by  a  pedal. 
HeiT  von  Blaha,  when  showing  off  this  work  of  art  himself,  would 
also  sound  the  drums  and  fifes  alone,  singing  to  the  same,  or  playing 
"a  real  bassoon"  -accompaniment  thereto  hj  the  aid  of  a  little  tube 
in  his  mouth.  Above  the  keys  of  the  hammer-clavier  was  set,  besides, 
a  separate  keyboard  controlling  two  rows  of  organ-pipes,  and  a  pedal 
worked  the  bellows  providing  these  pipes  with  life-giving  wind.  For 
amateurs  our  doctor  also  let  loose  the  droning  bagpipe  and  rattling 
castanets.  But  all  this  was  surpassed  by  the  suddenly  in-rushing, 
howling  stormwind,  the  plashing  sleet,  and  the  rolling  thunder  with 


—     254    — 

fearful  thunder-cla])s,  to  which  he  sang  a  lovely  descriptive  aria,  until 
the  war  of  elements  was  tranquilized.  But  this  silence  was  truly 
refreshing,  as  he  naively  remarks. — To  incredulous  readers  I  commend 
the  source  quoted  by  Gerber:  Literarischer  Anseiger,  1798,  No.  LI, 
p.  531. 


The  Piano-violins,  and  the  Pantaleon. 

The  attempts  to  contrive  a  keyboard  instrument  which  could 
produce  tones  more  sustained  than  those  of  the  clavichord  and  harp- 
sichord, began  early  in  the  17th  century.  As  a  prototype,  although 
a  very  imperfect  one,  of  the  class,  we  might  name  the  hurdy-gurdy 
(veille),  which  was  known  from  the  9  th  century  onward  in  Germany, 
France,  and  Italy.*  It  bore  the  form  of  a  small  lute  or  viola,  strung 
with  3  or  4  gut  strings.  Over  the  strings  was  a  wooden  cover,  on 
one  side  of  which  were  fixed  8  or  10  keys  whose  tangents,  like 
those  of  the  clavichord,  "stopped"  one  of  the  strings  at  various  points, 
thus  shortening  it.  By  means  of  a  projecting  crank  the  right  hand 
turned  a  wheel  which,  being  rosined,  set  all  the  strings  in  vibration. 
When  touched  by  the  left  hand,  the  keys  could  then  produce  a  me- 
lody within  a  range  of  8  to  12  successive  diatonic  tones,  with  a 
running  accompaniment  by  the  doubled  or  simple  tonic  and  dominant. 

However,  the  Piano-violin  (Geigenwerk)  contrived  by  the  organist 
Joh.  Heiden  of  Nuremberg,  about  1600,  might  be  regarded  as  a  really 
new  invention;  in  it  the  keys  when  touched  pressed  their  corre- 
sponding wire  strings  against  small  rosined  wheels.  These  wheels 
were  kept  revolving  by  a  pedal,  sounding  the  strings  touched  as  in 
a  bowed  instrument. 

Later  imitations  of  this  instrument  do  not  appear  to  have  met 
with  much  favor.  The  "Gambenwerke"  made  toward  the  middle  of 
the  18  th  century  by  G.  M.  Kish  of  Ilmenau  had  better  success.  His 
improvement  of  the  "Nuremberg  Geigenwerke"  is  found  chiefly  in 
the  simple  substitution  of  gut  strings,  like  those  of  bowed  instruments, 
for  the  wire  strings.  He  undertook  professional  tours  with  his  Gam- 
benwerke, and  sought  purchasers  for  them  on  the  way. 


*  In  different  countries  this  instrument  was  also  known  under  the  names 
of  lira  tedesca,  viola  da  who,  Drehleier,  Bauernleier,  and  Latinized  to  lyra  rustica 
or  pagana;  etc. 


—     255     — 

In  1754  Joliaun  Hohlfekl  exhibited  to  King  Frederick  II  at  Ber- 
lin a  piano-violin  (Bogenflligel)  strung  with  gut  strings,  beneath  which 
was  a  bow  furnished  with  horsehair.  On  pressing  the  keys  the  strings 
were  drawn  by  little  hooks  against  the  bow,  the  slow  or  rapid  move- 
ment of  which  the  player  controlled  by  a  pedal-stop,  in  order  to 
sound  the  string  in  proportionally  weak  or  powerful  sustained  tones. 

This  instrument  of  Hohlfeld's  was  materially  improved  and  per- 
fected 15  years  later  by  J.  G.  Greiner  of  Wetzlar.  At  the  desire  of 
the  Abbe  Vogler  he  added  to  it  an  ordinary  pianoforte,  which 
was  set  upon  the  piano-violin  strung  with  gut  strings,  and  could  be 
coupled  or  connected  with  it.  The  length  of  this  pair  of  oblong  in- 
struments, which  found  room  on  a  table,  was  3  feet  8  inches,  the 
breadth  1  foot  8  inches,  and  the  height  1  foot.  Greiner  named  the 
instrument  the  "Bogenhammerclavier",  and  sold  it  in  Copenhagen  for 
600  thalers. 

In  1794  C.  A.  von  Meyer,  at  Knonow,  conceived  that  he  could 
improve  the  Bogenfliigel,  by  providing  for  each  of  its  gut  strings  a 
separate  horsehair  bow.  The  frame  holding  these  bows  was  moved 
up  and  down  by  a  pedal,  and  each  key  pressed  the  bow  allotted  to 
it  against  the  string  to  be  sounded,  which  remained  in  position. 

The  renown  and  description  of  such  claviers  with  a  sustained 
tone  penetrated  to  Moscow,  where  the  instrument-maker  J,  Ch.  Htibner 
invented  a  "clavecin  harmonique"  about  1801,  which  accurately  re- 
produced the  sound  of  a  string  quartet.  His  fellow-workman  Pouleau 
gave  the  name  of  "Orchestrine"  to  a  still  further  improved  Bogen- 
flugel  of  full  and  powerful  tone,  and  gave  performances  on  it  at  Paria- 
in  1808,  and  later  in  Brussels,  with  extraordinary  applause. 

To  the  class  of  these  bowed  instruments  also  belong  the  Cele- 
stino  of  Walker,  the  Sostenute-Piano  of  Mott  in  London,  and  the 
Orphica  or.  Xanorphica  of  Rollig  in  Vienna. 

None  of  the  instruments  described  have  proved  practically  and 
permanently  useful.  The  oft-required  renewal  and  tuning  of  the 
sti-ings  was  as  expensive  and  tedious  as  the  regulation  and  repairing 
of  the  bows  and  of  the  wheels  setting  them  in  motion.  In  the  course 
of  the  19  th  century  attempts  at  their  improvement  were  consequently 
discontinued. 

The  Dulcimer  is  another  of  those  instruments,  the  power  of 
whose  tone  is  controlled  by  tlie  player's  hand.  Upon  being  furnished 
with  keys,  as  narrated  above,  which  plucked  the  strings  through  the 
medium  of  quills,  the  instrument  was  transformed  into  the  clavicem- 


—     256     — 

balo,  on  which,  however,  to  the  regret  of  musicians,  the  music  pro- 
duced was  always  of  a  rough  and  grating  quality.  The  earlier  mode 
of  playing  the  dulcimer  with  hammers  was  therefore  resumed,  its 
resonance  being  bettered  to  begin  with,  softer  sounding  gut  strings 
taken  instead  of  the  sharp-set  wires,  and  the  hammer-heads  covered 
with  soft  leather,  thus  enabling  the  player  to  shade  his  perfor- 
mances in  an  artistic  manner.  The  dulcimer,  when  thus  improved, 
surpassed,  as  we  are  assured,  both  the  clavichord  and  clavicembalo 
in  fullness  of  tone  and  capacity  of  shading,  and  from  this  very  cir- 
cumstance is  said  to  have  given  direct  occasion  for  the  invention  of 
the  pianoforte.  For  soon  after  the  brilliant  appearance  of  the  new 
dulcimer,  the  new  invention  of  the  pianoforte  appeared  almost  simul- 
taneously in  Italy,  France,  and  Germany.  The  following  account  will 
enable  the  reader  to  judge  for  himself  of  the  probability  of  a  ti-an- 
sition  from  the  perfected  dulcimer  into  the— at  first — very  primitive 
hammer-clavier. 

Pantaleon  Hebenstreit,  born  in  Eisleben,  is  first  heard  of  at 
Leipsic,  where  he  gave  lessons  on  the  clavichord  and  in  dancing. 
Being  deeply  in  debt,  he  escaped  his  importunate  creditors  by  flight, 
concealing  himself  in  the  house  of  an  intimate  friend,  a  country  par- 
son in  the  Merseburg  district,  whose  children  he  instructed  in  clavi- 
chord playing.  In  the  village  inn  he  often  heard  the  dulcimer  played, 
made  one  in  the  improved  style  described  above,  and  attained  to 
such  extraordinary  virtuosity  on  the  instrument  that  he  journeyed 
in  1705  to  Paris,  to  give  public  performances  on  it.  He  won  great 
applause  when  playing  before  Louis  XIV,  who  was  so  enchanted 
by  his  masterly  performances,  enhanced  by  the  most  diversified  tone- 
colors,  that  he  loaded  him  with  marks  of  favor,  and  gave  the  in- 
strument its  inventor's  baptismal  name  Pantaleon  (Pantalon),  under 
which  it  became  more  and  more  widely  known.  Hebenstreit  made 
an  equally  favorable  impression  when  performing  on  the  Pantaleon 
before  Ninon  de  Lenclos.  The  Abbe  Chateauneuf,  who  was  present, 
describes  the  instrument  in  his  'Dialogue  sur  la  musique  des  anciens', 
and  is  full  of  praises  of  the  artist's  extraordinary  performances  «,nd 
brilliant  mental  powers.  In  the  year  1706  we  find  Hebenstreit  as 
Kapellmeister,  soloist  on  the  Pantaleon,  and  Court  Dancing-master  at 
Eisenach;  and  when  our  celebrated  composer  Telemann  was  engaged 
there  in  1708  as  Coucertmeister  (first  violin),  Hebenstreit  induced  him 
to  play  with  him  concert  pieces  for  two  violins  composed  by  the 
latter.     Of  these  Telemann  writes  in  his  Autobiography  that  he  al 


—     257     — 

ways  had  to  prepare  and  refresh  hunsclf  for  several  days,  that  lie 
might  in  some  measure  approach  in  strength  the  "not  sufficiently  to 
be  praised  Herr  Pantaleon  Hebeustreit"  in  such  contests.  However, 
this  universal  genius  soon  relinquished  to  Telemann  his  position  as 
Kapellmeister,  and  repaired  with  his  favorite  instrument,  the  Panta^ 
leon,  to  Vienna.  Here  he  played  on  it  before  the  imperial  court, 
and  was  rewarded  with  a  gold  chain,  on  which  the  Emperor's  por- 
trait hung.  He  now  proceeded  to  Dresden,  and  after  the  king  had 
heard  him,  a  concert  was  arranged  at  the  court,  in  which  all  the  Ger- 
man and  Italian  Kammervirtnosi  took  part.  "As  soon  as  Herr  He- 
beustreit began,"  recounts  Forkel.  "and  performed  only  a  short  pre= 
lude,  the  whole  court  was  astounded  at  this  new  and  admirable 
music,  and  even  the  jealous  foreigners  had  to  confess  that  they  had 
never  heard  anything  grander  or  more  perfect  on  a  single  instrument. 
Herr  Hebenstreit  bad  the  art  of  bringing  out  full-scored  music 
("voile  Musik")  on  his  instrument  as  expressively  as  if  20  different 
instruments  Avere  playing.  Augustus  immediately  engaged  Herr  Heben- 
streit as  royal  Kammermusicus;  paid  all  his  debts;  made  liim  besides 
a  munificent  present  in  ready  money;  and  allowed  him  an  annual 
salary  of  2000  thalers". 

As  finally  perfected  the  Pantaleon  appeared  thus:  It  was 
4  timet  as  large  as  the  ordinary  dulcimer,  and  oblong  in  shape.  It 
had  2  soundboards,  as  of  two  instruments  standing  close  together,  was 
strung  on  one  side  with  steel  and  brass  wires,  on  the  other  with  gut 
strings,  and  the  2  wooden  mallets  in  the  player's  hands  were  some- 
times used  with  the  softer  side,  sometimes  with  the  harder. 

After  Hebenstreit's  death  in  1750  at  Dresden  his  instrument, 
which  was  hard  to  keep  in  order  on  account  of  its  185  strings, 
difidcult  to  tune,  and  still  more  difficult  to  play  successfully,  was 
practised  by  only  a  few  of  his  pupils. 

But  it  can  be  asserted  only  with  probability,  and  never  with 
certainty,  that  Hebenstreit's  incontestably  brilliant  success  on  his  ' 
wonderful  instrument,  together  with  the  wide-spread  fame  of  the  latte  , 
actually  instigated  experiments  in  substituting  wooden  hammers  acted 
on  by  keys  for  the  hand-hammers  of  the  Pantaleon,  and  thus  bring- 
ing about  the  invention  of  a  keyboard  instrument  to  be  played  piano 
e  forte. 


17 


—     258     — 


-— *      The  Hammer-clavier  or  Pianoforte. 

In  Germany,  France,  and  Italy  the  celebrated  organ-builder  Gott- 
fried Silbermann  was  generally  held  to  be  the  inventor  of  the  piano- 
forte, until  the  also  highly  esteemed  organist  and  theoretician  Ch,  G. 
Schroeter  in  1763  claimed  for  himself  the  honor  of  this  invention  — 
10  years,  to  be  sure,  after  Silbermann's  death  —  and  tried  to  establish 
his  claim  by  documents  and  drawings.  This,  however,  could  not  rob 
Silbermann  of  the  merit  of  havingjnaterially  improved  the  pianoforte, 
.and  thus  being  the  first  to  effect  its  further  popularization. 

But  extracts  have  recently  been  published  from  Italian  and 
French  archives,  which  for  the  first  time  set  Schroeter's  and  Silber- 
mann's participatioD  in  this  invention  in  its  true  light,  by  enumerating 
the  names  of  the  inventors  of  the  pianoforte  as  they  appeared  in 
quick  succession,  and  establishing  ^^ith  diplomatic  accuracy  the  year 
in  which  the  invention  was  publicly  announced.  We  owe  this  impor- 
tant information  —  which,  taken  together  with  the  resurrected 
pianofortes  of  that  period,  calls  for  a  complete  re-writing  of  all  his- 
tories of  the  pianoforte  previously  published  —  more  particularly  to 
an  Association  in  Florence,  which  decided  to  arrange  a  celebration, 
on  May  7,  1874,  in  honor  of  Cristofori,  the  first  and  wholly  inde- 
pendent inventor  of  the  "clavicembalo  with  the  piano  and  fortfe". 
This  instrument,  known  since  the  }ear  1711,  was  styled  "pianoforte" 
after  the  designation  bestowed  on  it  by  its  inventor,  which  name  has 
been  retained  outside  of  Italy  as  well.  For  a  long  time  after  his 
death  the  inventor  was  only  cursorily  mentioned  as  Christofani, 
Cristofari,  Cristofali.  etc.  His  true  name,  however,  now  lies  before 
us  in  a  certified  facsimile,  in  the  work  published  by  Leto  Puliti, 
^'Cenni  storici  della  vita  del  serenissimo  Ferdinando  dei  Medici,  gran- 
principe  di  Toscana  etc.  Esti-atto  dagli  Atti  dell'  Accademia  del  R- 
fstituto  musicale  di  Firenze,  1874,  pag.  108".  The  original  of  this  is  to 
"J  found  in  the  list  of  insti-uments  belonging  to  the  inheritance  of  the  above- 
named  Prince,  and  witnesses  to  their  surrender  to  the  custodian  by  the  fol- 
lowing signature  of  Sept.  23, 1716:  "lo  Bartolomeo  Cristofori  6  ricevuto 
in  Consegno  tutti  li  sopradetti  Strumenti  et  in  fede  mano  propria". 
Among  these  instruments,  which  were  confided  to  Ciistofori's  keeping 
l)efore  the  Prince's  death,  were  Antwerp  harpsichords,  French  clave- 
e^ins  Irises,  and  also  a  large  number  of  Italian  clavicembali  and 
smaller   and   larger   spinets,   many  of  which   were  ornamented  with 


—     259     — 

costly  painting  and  gilding-.  The  makers  of  these  claviers  were,  with 
few  exceptions,  the  then  most  celebrated  Italian  masters —  Domenico 
da  Pesaro,  Girolamo  Zenti,  Cortona  di  Roma,  Guiseppe  Mondini,  and 
Bartolomeo  Cristofori. 

According  to  recent  researches,  Cristofori  was  born  at  Padua  on 
May  4,  1653.  Here  he  attained  to  such  great  renown  as  a  clavier- 
maker,  that  Prince  Ferdinando  dei  Medici,  a  patron  of  art  and  espe- 
cially well-versed  in  music,  induced  him  to  come  to  Florence,  and 
enter  his  service  as  Court  Clavier-maker  and  custodian  of  his  collection 
of  instruments. 

Now,  in  a  publication*  issued  at  Venice  in  the  year  1711,  was 
noticed  the  invention,  hitherto  regarded  as  an  impossibility,  of  a  grave- 
cembalo  col  piano  e  forte,  happily  achieved  by  Bartolomeo  Cristofali 
(sic)^  the  salaried  cembalist  of  the  Prince  of  Toscana,  of  which  he 
had  already  made  three  equally  good,  and  of  the  ordinary  size  of  other^ 
harpsichiixds.  A  point  mentioned  with  special  commendation  was,  that 
in  this  new  instrument  it  depended  upon  the  degree  of  strength 
with  which  the  player  touched  the  keys,  whether  the  tone  should  be 
soft  or  loud,  in  all  possible  gradations.  Many  musicians,  continues  the 
reporter,  Marehese  Scipione  Maffei  di  Verona,  withhold  the  praise 
due  to  the  invention,  because  the  tone  is  too  soft  and  dull,  although 
one  easily  becomes  accustomed  to  it,  and  soon  even  pr^ers  it  to 
that  of  other  harpsichords.  The  chief  objection,  however,  made 
to  the  new  instrument  is,  that  one  must  first  habituate  oneself  to  its 
touch,  even  if  already  a  practised  player  on  other  keyboard  instru- 
ments. But  this  being,  in  point  of  fact,  a  new  instrument,  says  Maf- 
fei, its  characteristics  must  first  be  studied  in  order  to  bring  out  its 
peculiarities  with  skill  and  taste.  / 

The  construction  of  these  harpsichords  shows,  Maffei  remarks 
further,  instead  of  the  usual  jacks  plucking  the  strings  with  quills, 
a  row  of  little  hammers  striking  the  strings  from  heloiv.  According 
to  the  description  and  accompanying  drawing,  the  hammer-heads  are 
small  wooden  cubes  like  dice,  covered  on  top  with  "buckskin",  and 
penetrated  by  the  shanks  of  the  hammers.  All  the  hammers  are 
placed  above  and  independent  of  the  key-levers,  on  a  wooden  frame. 
The  lower  end  of  the  hammer-shank  is  connected  with  a  round  disk. 


*  Giornale  dei  letterati  d'ltalia.  Tomo  quinto  sotto  la  protezione 
del  serenissimo  principe  di  Toscana.  In  Venezia  MDCCXI,  appresso  Gio. 
Gabriello  Ertz,     Articolo  IX. 

17* 


—     260     — 

by  whose  aid  the  liammer  can  play  easily,  and  on  pressing  the  key 
a  hopper  drives  the  hammer  with  more  or  less  force  against  the 
string.  Instead  of  the  escapement  of  our  newer  pianofortes,  a  spring 
of  brass  wire  on  the  hopper  permits  the  drop  of  the  hammer  to  a 
position  of  rest  instantly  after  the  stroke;  and  instead  of  the  check 
likewise  added  later,  the  hammer  here  falls  upon  two  cross-threads 
of  silk.  A  cloth-covered  damper  rests  on  the  string,  not  letting  it 
vibrate  freely  until  the  key  is  pressed. 

Maffei  describes  this  instrument  at  great  length;  and  specimens 
still  extant,  of  the  years  1720  and  1726,  which  were  exhibited  on 
the  occasion  of  the  Cristofori  celebration,  one  being  accurately  de- 
scribed by  Puliti  and  both  later  by  Ponsicchi*,  prove  that  its  inventor 
continually  sti'ove  to  improve  it.  The  first  of  these  two  shows  on 
the  finger-board  the  following  engraved  words:  Bartholomaeus 
de  Cristoforis  patavinus  inventor  faciebat  Florentiae  MDCCXX, 
but  it  appears  to  have  been  remodelled  at  a  later  period,  the  form  of 
the  hammer-heads,  for  instance,  strikingly  resembling  the  modern 
ones.  The  pianoforte  of  1726,  on  the  contrary,  evidently  contains 
only  improvements  made  by  Cristofori  himself.  In  it  the  hammer- 
heads consist  of  small  hollow  pasteboard  cylinders  covered  with 
leather,  and  the  whole  hammer  is  no  longer  held  in  position  and 
at  rest  by  silk  threads,  but  by  a  contrivance  resembling  our  modern 
check. 

Cristofori  retained  until  his  death  in  1731  his  position  as  custodian 
of  the  aforesaid  collection;  in  May,  1876,  the  committee  in  charge  of 
the  festivities  in  his  honor  erected  a  memorial  stone  to  the  inventor 
of  the  pianoforte,  in  the  convent  of  Santa  Croce  at  Florence. 

At  that  time,  however,  the  pianoforte  seems  to  have  been  dis- 
seminated no  further,  either  in  Italy  or  beyond  its  boundaries,  for  we 
possess  no  accounts  of  attempts  at  improving  Cristofori's  invention. 
The  chief  reason  for  this  is  probably  to  be  sought  in  the  objection 
raised  by  the  clavier -players,  that  its  manipulation  was  decidedly 
more  inconvenient  than  that  of  the  harpsichords  then  in  vogue  in 
Italy,  and  its  tone  much  less  penetrating. 

Marius,  the  maker  of  the  clavecins  above  alluded  to,  is  the 
second,  and  in  all  probability  equally  independent,  inventor  of  a 
hammer-clavier.  In  1716  he  laid  before  the  Eoyal  Academy  of  Paris 
the  drawings  and  descriptions  of  four  different  models  of  claviers  in 

*  H  Pianoforte,  sua  origine  e  sviluppo  (con  tavole)  etc.  Firenze,  Gr.  Gr. 
Guidi,  1876. 


—     261     — 

which  ■wooden  hammers  were  substituted  for  the  quilled  jacks.*  By 
this  means,  says  the  report  of  the  Academy,  he  avoids  the  constant 
repairing  of  the  ordinary  harpsichord,  obtains  a  finer  and  more  powerful 
toue,  and  by  graduating  the  force  or  lightness  of  the  touch  lends  to 
the  instrument  an  expressiveness  hitherto  wanting  to  it.  Further, 
M.  Marius  has  also  invented  a  keyboard  with  hammers  (clavier  a 
maillets)  for  the  harpsichords  hitherto  used,  which  can  be  put  into 
or  taken  out  of  the  latter  without  necessitating  any  alteration.  ]\1. 
Marius  also  employs  two  other  simpler  and  more  practical  devices 
to  replace  the  jacks  by  hammers.  "Tout  cela  a  paru  tres  bien 
pens6".  With  these  words  closes  the  brief  report  of  the  Paris 
Academy. 

However,  in  the  published  Proceedings  of  the  Academy  concern- 
ing reports  on  machines  and  inventions,  we  find  a  more  detailed 
description  and  4  illustrations  of  the  "clavecin  h  maillets  invente 
par  M.  Marius"  in  the  year  1716.**  The  drawings  are  supposed  to 
represent  the  mechanism  of  four  different  kinds  of  hammer-claviers, 
but  appear  to  be  mere  rough  experimental  suggestions,  which  might 
have  led  to  the  result  proposed  by  the  "inventor"  after  successive 
successful  improvements.  The  drawing  of  the  first  model,  in  con- 
junction with  that  of  the  second,  exhibits  the  key,  consisting  of  a 
long,  narrow  strip  of  wood,  and  playing  in  a  fork  on  the  front  ba- 
lance-rail, as  the  lever  of  a  wooden  hammer  adjusted  above  it  on 
a  rail.  Like  the  key,  this  hammer  consists  of  a  long,  narrow  slip  of 
wood  bearing  on  its  end  an  upright  cube  of  wood,  which  strikes  the 
proper  string,  when  the  key  is  depressed,  like  the  metal  pin  on  the 
key  of  the  clavichord. 

It  is  thought,  says  the  reporter,  that  with  keyboards  of  this 
make  the  power  of  the  tone  can  be  modified  by  skilfully  graduating 
the  touch.  According  to  this  theory  (so  closes  the  description  of  the 
first  model),  the  hammers  have  been  adjusted  in  various  manners 
and  positions.  —  The  second  model  was  intended  to  show  how  the 
hammers  could  strike  the  keys  from  above  or  below,  two  rows  of  a 
trichord  adjustment  of  the  strings  being  employed.  The  third  model 
proposes  an  improvement  of  the  first,   the   string  being  struck  from 


*  See  Histoire  de  I'academie  royale  des  sciences,  Annee  MDCCXVI,  k 
Paris  de  rimprimerie  royale  MDCCXVIII,  p.  77.     (Compare  L.  Puliti  as  above.) 

**  See  Machines  et  inventions  approuvees  par  Taccademie  royale  des 
sciences.  Tome  troisifeme,  depuis  1713  jusqu'en  1719.  A  Paris  MDCCXXXV, 
pag.  83.  1716.     No.  172.     With  dramngs  of  the  4  models  by  Marius. 


—     262     — 

below  by  a  rouud  wooden  peg  instead  of  a  hammer,  the  trouble- 
some quilling  of  the  harpsichord  being  thus  avoided.  The  fourth 
model  is  intended  to  show  that  both  the  hammer  adjustment  and 
the  former  quill  adjustment  could  be  put  into  one  and  the  same 
harpsichord,  and  played  upon  either  separately  or  simultaneously. 

All  four  models  are  explained  at  great  length,*  but  their  un- 
practical character  is  so  glaringly  apparent  that  probably  no  attempt 
was  ever  made  to  apply  them  in  practice.  The  entire  invention 
was  soon  forgotten,  and  even  Fetis  did  not  consider  the  inventor 
worthy  of  a  separate  article  in  either  edition  of  his  Biographie  des 
musiciens. 

WaUher,  in  his  Musikalisches  Lexicon  published  at  Leipsio  in 
1732,  mentions  neither  a  pianoforte  nor  any  hammer-clavier  whatever, 
nor  does  a  similar  work  published  at  Chemnitz  in  1749  yet  notice 
instruments  of  this  class.  Not  until  1767  does  the  Court  Composer 
Job.  Friedr.  Agricola  of  Berlin  write,  in  his  annotations  to  Adlung's 
Musica  mech.  organoedi  (Vol.  I.  p.  212):  —  "Hr.  Gottfried  Silbermann 
is  celebrated  on  account  of  his  fine  fliigel  and  clavichords,  the  inven- 
tion of  the  Cimbal  d'Amour,**  and  the  improvement  of  the  Piano 
forte.  True,  the  first  attempt  at  this  piano  forte  was  devised  and 
carried  out  in  Italy;  but  Hr.  Silbermann  has  improved  it  so  greatly 
that  he  himself  is  hardly  less  than  its  inventor". 

Silbermann,  of  whose  highly  influential  labors  we  shall  speak  at 
length  directly,  died  in  1753,  and  in  1763  the  above-mentioned  or- 
ganist Ch.  G.  Schroeter  of  Nordhausen  published,  in  Marpurg's  "Kri- 
tische  Briefe",  the  "Circumstanial  description  of  a  newly  invented 
keyboard  instrument,  on  which  one  can  play  loudly  aud  softly  in 
different  degrees,  together  with  two  drawings,  1763".  He  professes 
to  have  been  chiefly  impelled  to  this  "new  invention"  by  the  Pan- 
taleon  of  the  "world-renowned  virtuoso  Hebenstreit",  having  made 
attempts  as  early  as  1717  to  contrive  a  keyed  instrument  which  should 
set  the  strings  in  vibration  by  means  of  mallets  or  hammers  instead 
of  the  metal  pins  or  quills  hitherto  used.  He  recounts  further,  that 
in  1721  he  laid  two  models  before  the  Dresden  court.  In  one  the 
hammers  struck  from  below,  in  the  other  from  above.  Both  were 
furnished  with  dampers,  and  on  either  the  strings  could  be  sounded 
loudly  or  softly.     The  models  met  with  the  king's  approval,  and  he 

*  Both  the  models  and  the  French  description  of  them  are  given  in  full 
in  the  work  by  L.  Puliti  mentioned  above. 

**  A  description  of  this  instrument  is  given  further  on. 


—     2G3     — 

ordered  fliat  a  working  model  should  be  made  of  the  under-striking 
kind.  The  order  remained  unexecuted,  and  when  Schroeter  was 
about  to  leave  Dresden  he  failed,  despite  all  his  attemps,  to  get  his 
models  back  again.  He  asserted,  that  they  became  known  in  Germany 
without  his  knowledge  and  consent,  were  clumsily  imitated,  and  styled 
"pianoforte". 

Even  if  we  give  full  credence  to  Schroeter's  statements,  we  must, 
on  the  strength  of  documents  now  accessible,  regard  his  claim  to  the 
invention  of  the  pianoforte  as  wholly  baseless.  For  Cristofori  had 
made  a  complete  pianoforte  as  early  as  1711,  and  Marius  had  ex- 
hibited four  models  of  like  instruments  in  1716,  while  Schroeter,  as 
he  himself  asserts,  first  attempted  to  build  a  clavier  playing  loudly 
and  softly  in  1717.  Neither  could  Silbermann  have  made  any  use 
of  Schroeter's  model-drawings,  these  not  being  published  till  10  years 
after  Silbermann's  death.  A  glance  at  the  latter's  active  life  will 
suffice  to  convince  us,  that  to  his  persevering  labors  we  owe  the 
production  of  an  instrument  which,  by  reason  of  its  practical  use- 
fulness and  convenient  management,  soon  attained  to  the  widest 
popularity. 

Gottfried  Silbermann,  born  at  Frauenstein  in  Saxony  in  the 
year  1683,  was  the  second  son  of  a  reputable  carpenter.  Despit* 
his  early  fondness  for  music  it  was  decided  that  he  should  follow 
his  father's  trade.  But  his  lively  diposition  soon  bore  him  away 
from  carpentering,  neither  could  the  workshops  of  other  masters,  in 
which  he  was  subsequently  placed,  confine  him  for  any  length  of  time. 
Mischievous  pranks  even  brought  him  into  jail,  whence  he  escaped, 
however,  overnight,  to  flee  from  an  awarded  punishment.  He  fled  to 
a  relative  in  Bohmisch-Einsiedel,  who  provided  him  with  means  to 
travel  to  Strassburg,  the  adopted  home  of  his  elder  brother  Andreas, 
the  celebrated  builder  of  the  organ  in  the  Minster  at  Strassburg, 
who  gave  him  a  friendly  reception.  In  his  flourishing  establishment 
he  taught  him  the  art  of  organ-building,  and  after  3  years  spent 
here  by  Gottfried  in  zealous  work,  his  brother  entrusted  the  thoroughly 
trained  young  master  with  the  principal  work  on  an  organ  in  the 
church  of  a  convent  near  by,  Gottfried  labored  industriously  at 
his  task,  and  during  this  time  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  young, 
lively  French  lady,  who  had  been  forced  to  take  the  veil,  and 
yearned  to  regain  her  freedom.  Ardent  mutual  love  ripened  their 
decision  to  attempt  a  bold  escape.  One  moonlight  night  she  had  even 
climbed   the   wall,    and    he    had    already  thrown  her  a  rope-ladder, 


—     264     — 

when  her  absence  was  remarked  in  the  conyent,  and  she  was  forci- 
bly carried  back  into  the  garden.  He  himself  escaped  from  the 
hands  of  a  servant  of  the  convent  only  after  a  prolonged  struggle, 
and  took  refuge  in  the  drying-loft  of  a  cabinet-maker,  his  friend. 
As  soon  as  he  deemed  himself  safe  from  any  ill  consequences  of  his 
adventure,  he  journeyed  back  to  his  native  town.  In  Frauenstein  he 
now  completed  the  fu'st  organ  built  wholly  by  himself,  which  met 
with  so  favorable  a  reception  that  he  was  commissioned  to  build  an 
organ  for  the  cathedral  at  Freiburg.  The  extremely  successful 
construction  of  this  organ  won  him  the  name  of  the  foremost  organ- 
builder  in  Saxony,  which  was  thoroughly  well  deserved,  as  the  nume- 
rous organs  made  by  him  testify. 

The  long  sojourn  with  his  serious  and  strict  elder  brother  had 
brought  Gottfried's  earlier  levity  within  the  proper  limits,  and  lent 
to  his  restlessly  aspiring  mind  an  energy  and  perseverance  which  no 
obstacles  could  daunt,  and  which  never  relaxed  until  the  goal  aimed 
at  was  gained.  These  traits  are  also  plainly  apparent  in  his  experi- 
ments in  constructing  a  pianoforte  as  perfect  as  possible.  "With  him 
everything  had  to  be  good  and  genuine;  he  never  worked  for  looks, 
and  defective  work,  even  finished  pianofortes,  he  would  batter  to 
pieces  with  an  axe".* 

Agricola,  whom  we  quoted  above  concerning  Silbermann's  influ- 
ence, gives  the  following  additional  information  for  the  History  of 
the  Pianoforte  in  Vol.  2  of  the  work  alluded  to  (S.  116): 

"Hr.  Gottfr.  Silbermann  had  at  first  built  two  of  these  insti-u- 
ments.  One  of  them  was  seen  and  played  on  by  the  late  Kapell- 
meister Hr.  Joh.  Seb.  Bach.  He  praised,  and  was  even  filled  with 
admiration  at,  their  tone,  but  raised  the  objection,  that  it  was  too  weak 
high  up,  and  far  too  hard  to  play.  Herr  Silbermann,  who  could  bear 
no  faultfinding  with  his  work,  took  this  extremely  ill.  For  a  long 
time  therefore,  he  felt  resentful  towards  Herr  Bach.  And  neverthe- 
less his  conscience  told  him,  that  Herr  Bach  was  right.  There- 
fore —  to  his  great  credit  be  it  said  —  he  thought  it  best  to  turn 
out  no  more  of  these  instruments;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  to  bestow 
the  more  careful  attention  to  bettering  the  defects  noticed  by  Herr 
Bach.  On  this  he  labored  many  years.  And  I  doubt  the  less,  that 
this  was  the  true  cause    of  the   delay,   because  I  have  heard  Herr 

*  See  tlie  Sketch  by  Ludwig  Mooser,  based  on  cbvircb  and  official  docu- 
ments: "Das  Briiderpaar  die  Orgelbaumeister  Andreas  und  Gottfried  Silber- 
mann".    Strassburg,  printed  by  Gustav  Silbermann,  1861. 


—     265     — 

Silbermaun  liimself  admit  it.  Finally,  Herr  Silbermann  having  really 
invented  many  improvements,  especially  in  the  matter  of  touch,  he 
again  sold  one  to  the  court  of  the  Prince  of  Rudolstadt. — Shortly  after- 
ward H.  M.  the  King  of  Prussia  ordered  one  of  these  instruments,  and 
on  its  meeting  with  his  Majesty's  approval,  several  more  were  ordered  of 
Herr  Silbermann.*  Anyone  —  especially  one  who,  like  myself,  had  seen 
either  of  the  two  instruments  —  could  see  and  hear  very  readily 
from  all  these  how  industriously  Herr  Silbermann  must  have  worked 
to  improve  then.  Herr  Silbermann  likewise  was  moved  by  a  laudable 
ambition  to  show  one  of  these  instruments,  his  newer  work,  to  Herr 
Kapellmeister  Bach,  that  he  might  test  it;  from  whom  it  now  received 
unqualified  approval". 

From  this  report  by  Agricola,  who  knew  Silbermann  personally, 
it  would  seem  to  be  beyond  doubt  that  we  owe  the  construction  of 
pianofortes  for  practical  use,  and  their  wide  popularization,  solely  to 
the  tireless  energy  of  the  Saxon  Silbermann. 

Silbermann  earned  the  high  esteem  of  all  musical  circles  not  only 
by  his  admirable  organs,  neatly  and  durably  constructed  clavichords, 
harpsichords  and  pianofortes,  but  also  by  the  invention  of  the  Cim- 
bal  d'amour.  On  this  last  instrument  the  tone  of  the  clavichord,  to 
whose  class  it  belonged,  was  brought  out  more  fully  and  sustainedly. 
Its  strings  were  twice  as  long  as  in  the  ordinary  clavichord,  and  the 
tangents  on  the  keys  struck  exactly  in  the  middle  of  the  strings,  thus 
sounding  the  octave  of  the  whole  string  on  both  its  halves.  The 
tone  thus  gained  in  mellowness  and  fullness;  indeed,  this  invention, 
now  quite  forgotten,  might  perhaps  be  resuscitated  to  advantage  in 
our  modern  Instruments  for  the  low  and  medium  tones  by  the 
addition  of  a  flageolet-stop  lightly  touching  the  middle  of  the  strings. 

The  greatest  musicians  of  their  times,  Sebastian  Bach  at  1737, 
and  Mozart  at  1777,  recognized  the  value  of  the  invention  of  the 
pianoforte;  nevertheless  it  was  long  before  it  could  take  its 
due  rank  among  the  other  keyboard  instruments.  As  in  the  history 
of  music  throughout,  we  see  in  this  case,  too,  the  battle  of  progress 
against  the  conservative  element,  the  resistance  of  usage  to  innovation. 
Thus  the  anonymous  author  of  the  Musikalisches  Handbuch,  issued 
at  "Alethinopel"  (Leipsic)  simultanously  with  Forkel's  Musikalischer 
Almanach  by  Schwickert,  does  not  yet  yield  the  preference  to  the 

*  Frederick  11  paid  700  thalerj  for  each  of  these  pianofortes.  Silber- 
mann usually  sold  the  less  elegantly  finished  instruments  of  this  kind  for 
300  thalers. 


—     266     — 

pianoforte.  Firstly,  he  justly  censures  the  usage  of  composers  in 
writing  on  the  title-page  of  their  works:  "Sonatas  for  the  Clavier", 
without  naming  the  special  instrument  intended,  although  each  of 
these  has  its  peculiar  character.  On  the  harpsichord,  he  observes, 
the  heart  can  not  speak,  one  can  not  paint,  not  lay  on  light  and 
shade,  but  only  produce  a  plain,  well-defined  sketch.  It  is  suitable 
for  checking  or  hurrying  the  flow  of  the  music  —  in  a  word,  for 
accompanying.  The  Fortepiano,  he  continues,  ranks  higher,  especi- 
ally when  it  is  one  made  by  Friederici  or  Stein.  On  it  the  heart 
can  speak,  and  express  manifold  emotions,  can  paint,  and  diffuse 
light  and  shade.  But  is  lacks  the  medium  tints  and  minute  beauties, 
being  thus  on  the  whole  the  instrument  for  concertos  and  quartets. 
—  The  clavichord,  however,  ranks  highest  of  all.  Though  excluded 
by  its  character  from  public  concerts,  it  is  all  more  the  confidant  of 
solitude.  On  it  I  can  express  the  emotion  of  my  heart,  and  shade, 
tone,  disperse,  and  blend  the  tones  through  all  their  undulations. 
To  become  acquainted  with  a  virtuoso  (so  he  closes  his  observations) 
one  must  hear  him  at  the  clavichord  —  not  at  the  fortepiano,  and  still 
less  at  the  harpsichord. 

Forkel,  in  the  above  Almanach  for  1782,  also  ranks  the  clavi- 
chord above  all  other  kinds  of  claviers,  though  giving  prominent 
mention  to  the  delicacy  of  execution  and  diversity  of  shading  possi- 
ble on  the  Spath  pianofortes. 

Chr.  Fr.  Daniel  Schubart,  highly  esteemed  both  as  a  poet  and 
musician,  also  writes  at  length  on  the  claviers  of  his  period  in  his 
"Ideen  zu  einer  Aesthetik  der  Tonkunst"  (Ideas  on  the  ^Esthetics  of 
Musical  Art),  penned  during  his  imprisonment  at  Hohenasberg  and 
announced  in  1785,  although  not  published  by  his  son  until  1806. 
From  this  we  give  a  few  quotations  as  a  supplementary  characte- 
rization. 

The  harpsichord  twangs  the  strings  either  with  crow-quills,  or, 
though  more  expensively,  with  golden  points.  It  exercises  the  hand 
in  accurate  musical  delineation,  therefore  the  beginner  should  first 
practise  on  the  harpsichord. 

The  admirable  fortepiano,  he  exclaims,  is  —  Heil  wis!  —  another 
invention  of  the  Germans.  Silbermann  pondered  over  means  for  lending 
expressiveness  to  the  harpsichord,  and  he  and  his  successor  contrived 
the  instrument  which  yields  forte  and  piano  to  the  pressure  of  the 
handwithout  stops.  The  management  of  the  fortepiano  is  very  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  quilled  harpsichord.    The  latter  requires  merely 


—     267     — 

a  light  touch,  while  the  keys  of  the  fortepiano  must  he  touched  with 
a  spring  or  glide.  The  musical  colorit^  however,  can  by  no  mean* 
be  given  in  all  its  nuances  on  the  latter. 

The  clavichord,  that  lonely,  melancholy,  unspeakably  sweet  in- 
strument, is,  if  made  by  a  master,  preferable  to  the  harpsichord  and 
the  fortepiano.  The  swelling  and  dying  away  of  the  tones,  the 
mellow  trill  expiring  under  the  fingers,  the  portamento^  in  a  word,  all 
shades  of  feeling  can  be  definitely  expressed  by  the  finger-pressure, 
the  vibration  and  trembling  (Beben)  of  the  strings,  by  the  lighter  or 
more  powerful  touch  of  the  hand.  The  clavichords,  (thus  Schubart 
closes  his  remarks),  have  at  the  pi-esent  day  almost  reached  their 
climax;  they  embrace  from  5  to  6  octaves,  are  gebunden  and  unge- 
bunden  (having  several  keys  to  a  string,  or  but  one),  with  or  without 
lute-stops,  and  for  a  player  of  feeling  it  would  hardly  seem  possible 
to  add  a  perfection  to  this  instrument. 

We  perceive,  that  even  while  the  pianoforte  was  coming  into 
more  general  use,  the  clavichord  was  preferred  for  a  long  time^ 
Should  a  skilful  instrument-maker  undertake  to  resuscitate  this  for- 
merly much  lauded  instrument,  we  are  convinced,  therefore,  that  a 
gifted  artist  employing  it  in  his  performances  beside  those  on  the 
concert-grand,  would  create  a  great  effect  even  to-day.  Of  course, 
the  compositions  selected  would  have  to  be  adapted  to  the  romantic 
chiaro-oscuro  of  the  clavichord  tone.  Masters  of  composition  and 
practising  pupils  would  likewise  find  it  pleasant  to  possess  an  instru- 
ment whose  tone  does  not  carry  far,  which  takes  up  little  room,  can 
be  easily  transported,  and  might  be  bought  for  a  very  moderate  price. 

Silbermann's  fortepianos  at  first  all  appear  to  have  been  in  grand- 
piano  form,  for  it  is  narrated  of  Ch.  E.  Friederici  of  Gera  (d.  1779), 
one  of  the  earliest  makers  of  such  instruments,  that  he  constructed 
them  in  clavichord  form,  and  styled  them  Forthien  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  others.  On  account  of  their  admirable  workmanship 
they  spread,  as  we  are  told,  over  half  the  world.  The  Fortepianos, 
too,  which  Joh,  Adam  Spath  (d.  1796)  of  Eatisbou  constructed 
in  grand  form  and  sold  for  40  ducats,  were  held  in  high  estimation 
in  Germany.  They  were  especially  praised  because  the  dampers  lay 
upon  (on  top  of)  the  strings,  being  lifted  from  the  latter  as  long  as 
the  player  pressed  the  keys.  The  instruments  of  this  meritorious 
master  were  later  surpassed  by  the  pianofortes  of  Johann  Andreas 
Stein  (d.  1792)  of  Augsburg.  Mozart,  on  becoming  acquainted  with 
these  latter,    chose  them  principally  for  his  performances,   whereby 


—     268     — 

this  instrument  was  first  brought  into  general  notice  and  vogue.  The 
following  account  of  Stein's  instruments  is  given  in  a  letter  written 
by  Mozart  at  the  age  of  21  to  his  father  (Augsburg,  1777): 

''Now,  to  begin  with,  I  must  tell  you  about  the  Stein  pianoforte. 
Before  seeing  any  of  Stein's  make,  I  liked  Spath's  claviers  the  best, 
but  now  must  give  the  preference  to  Stein's;  for  they  damp  far  better 
than  even  those  from  Eatisbon.  When  I  strike  the  keys  hard, 
whether  I  let  my  fingers  lie  or  lift  them,  the  tone  ceases  in  the 
same  instant  that  I  sound  it.  However  I  may  touch  the  keys,  the 
tone  will  always  be  the  same,  it  will  not  'block'  (scheppern),  it  will 
not  go  easier  at  one  time  and  harder  the  next,  or  even  fail  alto- 
gether; in  a  word,  everything  is  even.  To  be  sure,  he  does  not  sell 
such  a  pianoforte  under  300  florins;  but  the  trouble  and  pains  he 
takes  are  beyond  price.  His  instruments  have  the  special  advantage 
above  others  that  they  are  made  with  an  escapement,  which  not  one 
in  a  hundred  troubles  his  head  with;  but  without  an  escapement  the 
pianoforte  will  inevitably  block  and  continue  to  sound.  When  one 
touches  the  keys,  the  hammers  drop  at  the  instant  they  spring  against 
the  strings,  whether  the  key  be  held  down  or  released.  When  he 
has  finished  such  a  pianoforte  (so  he  himself  tells  me),  he  first  sits 
down  to  it  and  tries  all  sorts  of  passages,  runs,  and  leaps,  and 
scrapes  and  works  until  the  action  will  do  anything;  for  he  works 
only  for  the  good  of  music,  and  not  simply  for  his  own  benefit,  else 
he  would  be  done  directly.  He  often  says:  'If  I  myself  were  not 
such  an  ardent  admirer  of  music,  and  could  not  perform  a  little  on 
the  pianoforte,  I  should  long  ago  have  lost  patience  with  my  work; 
but  as  it  is  I  am  an  admirer  of  instruments  which  do  not  bother  the 
player,  and  are  durable'.  And  his  pianofortes  are  really  durable. 
He  guarantees,  that  the  soundboards  will  neither  crack  nor  burst. 
After  he  has  made  a  soundboard  for  a  pianoforte  he  exposes  it  to 
the  air,  rain,  snow,  sun-heat,  and  all  devils  (sic)^  that  it  may  crack, 
and  then  glues  shavings  into  the  cracks  to  make  the  soundboard 
sti-ong  and  very  firm.  He  is  really  glad  when  it  cracks;  for  then 
one  may  be  sure  that  nothing  else  will  happen  to  it.  He  often  even 
cuts  into  it  himself,  and  then  glues  it  up,  and  strengthens  it  thoroughly. 
He  has  3  such  finished  pianofortes,  and  I  have  just  played  on  them 
again  to-day.  —  The  machine  (knee-pedal)  which  one  presses  with 
the  knee  is  also  better  made  by  him  than  by  others.  I  barely  need 
to  touch  it,  to  make  it  work;  and  as  soon  as  one  withdraws  the 
knee  a  little,  not  the  least  after-resonance  is  heard". 


—     269     — 

Job.  Andreas  Stein,  the  master  thus  praised,  by  Mozart,  was  born 
in  1728,  went  through  his  training  in  Silbermann's  workshops,  and 
later  made  a  name  by  several  inventions  of  new  instruments  of  the 
organ  and  clavier  class.  But  the  most  valuable  service  rendered  by 
him  to  art  was  the  invention  of  a  new  hammer-mechanism  for  the 
pianoforte.  In  Cristofori's  Italian  action  the  hammers  were  adjusted 
independently  of  the  Jieys  upon  a  separate  wooden  rail;  whereas  in 
Stein's  "German  action"  the  hammers  were  set  on  the  heys  themselves. 
In  the  latter  there  stands  on  the  tail  of  the  key  a  metal  pin  bent 
backwards,  on  which  is  fastened  a  brass  cap.  The  bill-shaped  shank 
of  the  hammer,  with  its  spindles,  is  accurately  fitted  into  this  cap, 
but  can  readily  play  within  the  latter.  On  depressing  the  key,  the 
butt  of  the  hammer-shank  is  caught  in  a  spring-catch  which  is  ad- 
justed behind  the  key,  lifts  the  hammer  up  to  strike  the  string,  and 
instantly  lets  it  di'op  again  to  a  position  of  repose.  A  check  received 
it  and  held  it  in  the  right  position,  and  the  leathering  of  the  hammer 
was  so  practical  that  the  player  could  graduate  the  power  of  the 
tone  by  a  gentler  or  stronger  touch  of  the  key.  When  Stein's  chil- 
dren Andreas  and  Nanette  removed  the  business  of  their  deceased 
father  to  Vienna  in  1794,  where  it  was  successfully  continued,  the 
aforesaid  mechanism  in  the  pianoforte  was  styled  the  "Viennese 
action". 

A  material  influence  was  exerted  on  the  flourishing  business  of 
the  Stein  family  in  Vienna  by  their  acquaintance  with  Andreas 
Streicher.  He  was  born  in  indigent  circumstances  at  Stuttgart  in 
1761,  and  a  pronounced  talent  decided  him  to  devote  himself  to 
music.  In  his  twenty-first  year  he  had  scraped  together  a  small  sum 
by  teaching,  which  he  considered  sufficient  for  a  journey  to  Ham- 
burg, in  order  thoroughly  to  learn  the  true  method  of  playing  the 
clavier  under  the  guidance  of  the  renowned  C.  Ph.  E.  Bach.  However, 
before  carrying  out  this  decision,  a  copy  of  Schiller's  "Rauber",  first 
printed  in  1781,  fell  into  his  hands,  which  so  moved  him  that  he 
became  eager  to  make  the  personal  acquaintance  of  its  author,  who 
was  at  that  time  regimental  physician  under  the  austere  Duke  Karl 
of  Wtirttemberg.  Andreas,  with  his  ardent  veneration  for  the  gifted 
poet,  and  Schiller,  attracted  by  the  faithful,  impressionable,  warm- 
hearted Swabian,  speedily  became  intimate  friends.  This  friendship 
was  soon  put  to  the  proof,  as  Schiller,  incensed  at  the  Duke's  harsh 
command  to  forbear  from  writing,  fled  from  Stuttgart,  aided  and  ac- 
companied by  Andreas.    After  prolonged  wanderings,  often  on  foot, 


—     270     — 

the  money  of  both  was  exhausted,  and  Andreas  was  forced,  as  be 
said,  "to  forsake  Germany's  noblest  poet  alone  and  in  misfortune". 
The  journey  to  Emanuel  Bach  had  to  be  given  up,  and  Streicher 
went  to  Mannheim,  to  earn  a  living  by  giving  clavier-lessons.  He 
had  unexpected  success,  and  both  here  and  in  Munich,  whither  he  re- 
paired after  a  time,  he  was  loved  and  honored  as  a  virtuoso,  teacher, 
and  composer.  On  repeated  business  trips  to  Augsburg  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Nanette  (Marie  Anna),  the  daughter  of  J.  A.  Stein. 
Since  earliest  childhood  she  had  learned  to  give  her  father's  piano- 
fortes the  finishing  touches,  and  was  also  highly  esteemed  as  an  ex- 
pressive pianoforte  player.  Streicher's  bearing,  frank  and  inviting- 
confidence,  won  her  love,  and  their  union  was  a  source  of  unalloyed 
happiness  to  both.  At  Streicher's  desire  his  wife  and  her  brother 
removed  the  business  to  Vienna  in  1794.  Here  Streicher's  musical 
gifts  also  found  general  favor,  and  the  pianoforte  manufactory,  con- 
ducted on  the  principles  of  the  elder  Stein,  became  so  flouiishing 
that  Streicher  found  it  necessary  to  aid  personally  in  carrying  it  on. 
From  1802  onward  the  business  was  conducted  by  the  two  equally 
esteemed  firms  of  "Geschwister  Stein"  and  "Nanette  Streicher,  nee 
Stein",  to  which  latter  "and  Son"  was  later  added.  Sti-eicher,  grown 
more  familiar  with  the  make  of  the  pianoforte,  invented  the  mecha- 
nism in  which  the  hammer  strikes  the  string  from  above,  which  was 
likewise  practically  employed  as  improved  by  Pape,  in  Paris.  Strei- 
cher's house  in  Vienna  was  a  rallying  point  for  the  most  eminent 
artists,  foreign  and  native,  and  Nanette  was  the  soul  of  the  company. 
Held  in  estimation  as  an  excellent  pianoforte  player,  as  a  lady  of 
high  mental  cultivation,  and  as  a  wife  and  mother,  she  was  likewise 
the  faithful  friend  of  Beethoven  when  he  was  most  difficult  of  access, 
and  untiring  in  her  care  for  the  household  of  the  great  master.  She 
died  in  January,  1833,  universally  mourned,  and  followed  only  four 
months  later  by  her  equally  honored  spouse.  Their  son  Johann 
Baptist  maintained  the  renown  of  the  firm,  and  Liszt,  Thalberg,  Clara 
Wieck,  and  Dreyschock  chose  their  concert  grands  at  Vienna  in 
preference  from  this  factory,  which  to-day  still  sustains  its  high 
rank  under  the  grandson  of  Andreas,  Emil  Streicher. 

^  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  we  owe  just  to  Schiller  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  modern  concert  grand  which  Andreas  Streicher  was  es- 
pecially active  in  bringing  about.  For  had  Andreas  journeyed  to 
Hamburg  to  be  trained  as  a  virtuoso  by  Emanuel  Bach,  instead  of 
throwing   in  his  lot  with  Schiller,   he   would   propably   never   have 


—     271     — 

known  and  married  Nanette,  who  induced  him  to  take  an  active 
part  in  pianoforte  making.  And  on  the  other  hand,  without  Streieher's 
watchful  care  and  friendship,  Schiller  might  easily  have  met  the  fate 
of  the  unfortunate  Daniel  Schubart,  whom  he  greatly  rejoiced  by  a 
visit  during  his  ten  years'  captivity  in  Hohenasperg. 


Pianoforte-making  in  England. 

In  the  year  1680  the  instrument-maker  Tabel,  who  had  been 
trained  in  the  celebrated  workshops  of  the  Brothers  Ruckers  at  Ant- 
werp, came  to  London,  and  founded  there  the  first  noteworthy  fac- 
tory for  claviers.  The  Swiss  Burkhardt  Tschudi  (later  always  called 
Shudi)  worked  in  Tabel's  Factory,  and  founded  in  1732  a  very  lu- 
crative business  of  his  own  in  London  *  John  Broadwood,  a  Scotch- 
man, entered  Shudi's  manufactory  about  1763,  and  so  distinguished 
himself  by  fine  workmanship  and  ingenious  inventions  that  Shudi  gave 
him  his  daughter  in  marriage.  Shudi  subsequently  made  over  his 
large  and  prosperous  business  to  Broadwood,  who  had  already  con- 
ducted it  for  a  considerable  time. 

About  1766  a  German,  Johann  Zumpe,  brought  over  "'Silbermann's 
invention",  the  pianoforte,  to  London.  This  instrument,  in  his  very 
neat  and  workmanlike  make,  immediately  found  great  favor  theref 
and  soon  won  such  renown  that  its  services  were  even  impressed  to 
enhance  the  brilliancy  of  a  "benefit"  performance.  On  a  theatre-bill 
of  May  16,  1767,  is  found  the  announcement:  "End  of  Act  I  Miss 
Brickler  will  sing  a  favourite  song  from  Judith,  accompanied  by  Mr.- 
Dibdin,  on  a  new  instrument  call'd  Piano  Forte."  A  year  later  the- 
"London  Bach"  (Johann  Christian)  played  the  pianoforte  in  public  for 
the  first  tune  in  a  concert. 

Great  influence  was  exerted  on  the  popularization  and  perfecting 
of  the  pianoforte  by  the  fact  that  in  the  year  1775  Muzio  Clementi 
not  only  employed  one  in  a  concert  at  London  with  brilliant  success, 
but  thenceforward  also  adapted  his  brilliant  compositions  to  this  effec- 
tive instrument,  for  which  the  Saxon  Ambassador  at  London,  Graf 
Bruhl,  devised  the  blued  steel  strings  in  1774,  of  fuller  tone  and  less 
liable  to  rust  than  the  ordinary  ones. 


*  Kirkman  (Kirchmann) ,  likewise  a  clavier-maker  of  repvite,  was  also 
trained  to  independence  in  Tabel's  workshops. 


—     272     — 

The  foremost  clavier  manufacturers  of  London  strove  to  improve 
the  newly  invented  instrument  more  and  more,  constructing  it 
both  in  Square  and  Grand  form.  The  Silbermann  action,  in  which 
the  hammers  were  independent  of  the  keys  and  rested  on  a  separate 
rail  above  the  latter,  were  so  essentially  improved,  especially  by 
Backers,  Stodart,  and  Broadwood,  that  it  became  known  and  widely 
employed  as  a  new  invention  under  the  name  of  the  "English  action". 
On  depressing  the  key  it  impels  by  means  of  its  jack,  which  at  the 
same  time  acts  as  an  escapement  (hopper),  the  hammer  against  the 
key,  through  an  aperture  in  the  soundboard,  and  lets  it  drop  instantly 
back  into  its  former  position.  In  1808  the  last-named  manufactory 
assumed  the  firm-name  of  Broadwood  and  Sons,  and  the  pianofortes 
since  turned  out  by  them  attained  such  world-wide  renown  that  as 
early  as  1856  their  workshops  were  the  most  extensive  of  all  then 
existing.  Some  500  employees  were  then  working  at  their  tasks, 
"from  the  first  saw-cut  of  the  rough  log  up  to  the  finest  work  on  the 
finished  pianoforte."  From  a  descriptive  pamphlet  written  for  the 
"International  Inventions  Exhibition"  at  Loudon  in  1885,  and  kindly 
furnished  by  the  firm  to  the  Editor,  the  following  list  is  taken. 

Number  of  Pianofortes  of  all  kinds  made  by  the  Broadwood 
Firm  from  1780  to  1885. 

Full  Grands 1780  to  1885  22,093 

Short  Grands,  including  separate  series  of 

Semi,    Bi chorda.    Boudoir,    and    short 

Drawing  Room  Grands 1831  to  1885  17,875 

Cottages 1819  to  1885  62,857 

Old  Upright,  or  Vertical  Grands   .     .     .     .     1799  to  1831  940 

Cabinets 1812  to  1856         8,963 

Squares 1780  to  1864  64.161 

176,889 
To  which  add  Harpsichords,  1732  to  1793  (approximately)         1,200 

Grand  total     178,089 

Pianoforte-making  in  France. 

In  Germany  the  clavichord  was  preferred,  as  remarked  before, 
to  the  pianoforte  even  long  after  the  invention  and  popularization  of 
the  latter,  while  in  England  marked  favor  was  shown  to  the  piano- 
forte immediately  after  its  first  appearance  there  in  1766.    The  French 


—     273     — 

liad  grown  so  exclusively  accustomed  to  the  tone  and  action  of  the 
hai-psichords  in  wingshape  (clavecins)  and  square  form  (^pinettes), 
that  the  pianoforte  did  not  find  acceptance  and  favor  in  France  until 
long  after  its  full  naturalization  in  Germany  and  England.  La  Rorde 
relates  in  1780  that  the  few  pianofortes  coming  from  London  to 
Paris,  although  ])leasing  in  the  upper  register,  were  hard  and  dull  in 
the  lower.  He  remarks,  besides,  that  their  square  shape  (illustrated 
in  his  work,  I,  346)  could  not  he  transformed  into  the  French  wing- 
shape,  and  that  they  were  frightfully  dear  as  well. 

In  the  year  1768  Sebastien  Erhard  (later  he  always  wrote  his 
name  Erard)  came  from  Strassburg  to  Paris.  Here  he  entered  the 
workshop  of  a  clavier-maker,  and  proved  to  be  such  a  judicious,  en- 
terprising, and  persevering  workman  that  his  name  was  soon  kno^vn 
in  all  Paris.  Being  a  clever  mathematician  and  mechanician, 
he  invented  in  1776  the  "clavecin  mecanique",  a  harpsichord  with 
stops  shifting  the  stroke  from  quilled  jacks  to  jacks  "en  peau  de 
buffle".  The  instrument  also  had  two  pedals,  one  of  vrhich  stopped 
the  strings  in  the  middle,  thus  raising  the  pitch  hy  an  octave, 
while  the  other  combined  the  above  changes.  At  the  request  of 
an  influential  patroness,  the  Comtesse  de  Villeroy,  he  constructed  Lis 
first  pianoforte  in  1777,  which  met  with  great  favor  in  her  soirees. 
About  this  time  Jean  Baptiste  Erard  cnnie  to  Paris,  and  participated 
thenceforward  in  his  brother's  work.  Their  establishment  in  Paris 
soon  became  well-known  and  patronized.  The  inexhaustible  inventor 
Sebastien  constructed  for  Queen  Marie  Antoinette  a  "piano  organise" 
with  two  keyboards,  one  of  which  played  a  pianoforte,  and  the  other 
an  organ,  a  "jeu  d'expression"  being  attached  to  the  latter.  A  se- 
cond stop  transposed  the  instrument  as  much  as  3  semitones  higher 
or  lower.  Space  is  wanting  to  name  all  the  inventions  contrived  by 
him  for  the  pianoforte,  and  likewise  for  the  harp,  which  he  com- 
pletely transformed  (double-action  harp  with  fork  mechanism);  for  his 
active  mind  was  incessantly  occupied  with  plans  for  perfecting  both 
instruments. 

The  terrors  of  the  outbreaking  Revolution  drove  Sebastien  to 
London,  and  the  harp  and  pianoforte  manufactory  established  there 
soon  became  as  flourishing  as  that  in  Paris,  continued  meantime  by 
his  brother.  In  1796  he  returned  to  France,  and  there  constructed 
the  first  grand  pianoforte  after  the  improved  English  system.  Its 
touch  being  considered  too  heavy,  he  made  renewed  attempts  to 
better  the  action.     Dussek,   equally  admired  as  a  composer  and  vir- 

18 


—     274     — 

tuoso,  played  on  one  of  his  concert  grands  in  1808  with  brilliant 
success;  and  Choron,  in  the  Supplement  to  his  Diet,  hist,  des 
inusieicns,  reports  in  1817  on  a  new  grand  pianoforte  of  the  brothers 
Erard:  "It  has  a  compass  of  6  octaves,  and  under  the  hands  of  the 
player  its  tone  appears  either  full  and  mellow,  or  loud  and  brilliant". 
—  Erard  has  won  lasting  fame  in  the  history  of  pianoforte-making 
by  his  invention  in  1823  of  the  hammer-action  "a  double  mouvement" 
or  "a  double  ^chappement",  which  thenceforward  was  used  in  all 
concert  grands  with  the  English  action.  In  this  action,  when  the 
liammer  has  struck  the  string,  it  may  again  be  thrown  upward  by 
the  slightest  pressure  of  the  finger  by  the  aid  of  a  second  lever 
(hopper)  with  similar  escapement,  thus  yielding  most  conveniently  the 
pianissimo,  crescendo,  and  extreme  forte  to  the  player's  will. — Se- 
bastien  Erard,  the  eminent  promoter  of  pianoforte-making,  died  in 
1831  at  his  castle  'La  Muette',  whither  he  had  withdrawn  from  active 
life  some  years  before.  His  nephew  Pierre  was  already  the  manager 
of  the  London  factory.  After  the  decease  of  his  uncle,  who  made 
1dm  his  heir,  he  came  to  Paris,  and  conducted  both  the  extensive 
factories  with  energy  and  success  until  his  death  in  1855.  Schafer 
«)f  Paris  then  continued  the  business.  The  world- renowned  Erard 
factory,  established  in  1780,  has  reached  a  grand  total  of  89.000  in- 
sti-uments  (down  to  end  of  1890),  namely  19,000  Grands,  61,000 
Uprights  and  9,000  Squares.  In  the  year  1890  there  were  made 
400  Grands  and  1300  Uprights,  or  1700  in  all.  Here,  too,  the  Squares 
seem  to  have  gone  quite  out  of  favor.  The  Erard  establishment  em- 
ploys about  500  hands  on  an  average. 

After  successful  tours  through  Germany,  Italy,  and  England,  the 
celebrated  composer  Ignaz  Pleyel  settled  in  1795  in  Paris,  where  his 
-easily  executed  symphonies,  string-quartets,  and  clavier-sonatas  were 
received  with  such  unusual  enthusiasm  that  he  decided  to  publish 
them  on  his  own  account.  In  addition  to  his  music  shop  he  opened, 
in  1807,  a  pianoforte  manufactory,  thus  laying  the  foundation  of 
the  business  later  raised  to  the  highest  pitch  of  prosperity  by  his 
son  Camille  Pleyel  in  particular,  even  rivalling  that  of  the  Erards. 
The  instruments  of  Pleyel's  make  are  distinguished  by  a  sympathetic 
tone,  and  stimulate  the  performer  by  admitting  of  the  most  delicate 
shading  of  a  composition.  Chopin  characterized  the  instruments  of 
these  two  equally  meritorious  firms  in  the  words:  "Quand  je  suis  mal 
dispose,  je  joue  sur  un  Piano  d'Erard  et  j'y  trouve  facilement  un  son 
fait.     Mais  quand  je  me  sens  en  verve  et  assez  fort,  pour  trouver 


—     275     — 

mon  propre  son  a  moi,  il  me  faiit  un  Piano  de  Pleyel".*  August 
Wolf  (d.  1877)  conducted  the  business  with  circumspection  after  Ca- 
mille  Pleyel's  death,  and  has  been  quick  to  adopt  all  new  improve- 
ments of  the  instrument. 

The  skilful  Swabian  pianoforte-maker  Heinrich  Pape  (b.  1789  at 
Sorstedt,  d.  1875  at  Paris)  came  to  Paris  in  1811,  where  he  orga- 
nized and  managed  for  some  years  the  pianoforte  factory  of  Pleyel. 
In  1815  he  set  up  for  himself,  and  his  factory  was  soon  in  a  con- 
dition to  compete  with  the  two  firms  mentioned  above.  Thinking 
that  the  strings  of  the  pianoforte  would  yield  a  clearer  tone  if  the 
soundboard  beneath  them  were  enclosed  on  all  sides — i.  e.  if  the 
aperture  through  which  the  hammers  struck  the  strings  were  done 
away  with— he  readopted  the  action  already  employed  by  Streicher, 
in  which  the  hammers  struck  the  strings  from  above.  This  action 
proved  peculiarly  advantageous  for  square  pianos  and  "cottages",  and 
was  therefore  soon  generally  adopted  in  the  latter,  as  well  as  in  the 
"pianinos"  (cabinets)  afterwards  taking  their  place.  Pape  introduced 
the  felted  hammer  instead  of  the  leather -covered  one,  and  also  de- 
vised the  overstrung  pattern. 


Pianoforte-making  in  Germany  etc. 

The  names  of  the  pianoforte-makers,  and  of  the  inventors  and 
improvers  of  separate  parts,  are  legion,  and  their  number  is  swelling 
year  by  year.  In  the  following  resume,  therefore,  only  a  few  of  the 
most  prominent  firms  will  be  mentioned. 

The  instruments  of  Bechstein  in  Berlin  enjoy  a  world-wide  re- 
putation. The  founder  of  the  factory,  Karl  Bechstein,  was  born  at 
Gotha  in  1826;  after  working  in  various  German  piano  factories  he 
acted  from  1848  to  1852  as  foreman  for  Peran  of  Berlin,  then  made 
a  tour  of  observation  to  London  and  Paris,  where  he  worked  for 
Pape  and  Kriigelstein,  and  established  himself  with  modest  means  at 
Berlin  in  1856.  Within  a  short  time  the  factory  attained  to  such 
prosperity,  that  the  greatest  masters  of  pianoforte-playing  began  to 
take  an  interest  in  Bechstein's  make,  so  that  he  was  enabled  more 
and  more  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  construction  of  large  concert 
grands.    Business  gradually  increased  to  such  an  extent,  that  Bech- 


*  Karasowski,  Friedrich  Chopin.     Dresden,  Eies,  1877.    II,  96. 


—     276     — 

stein  now  employs  several  hundred  workmen,  and  turns  out  over  a 
thousand  finished  instruments  annually.  Herr  Bechstein,  whose  in- 
struments enjoy  a  wide  European  reputation,  has  manufactured  down 
to  Oct.,  1891.  26,900  in  all;  the  number  made  in  1890  was  2600, 
of  which  1100  were  grands  and  1500  pianinos.  From  500  to  550 
workmen  are  regularly  employed  by  him. 

Bechstein's  chief  competitor  in  Germany  is  Julius  Bliithner 
of  Leipsic,  born  in  1824  at  Falkenhain  near  Merseburg.  He 
founded  his  factory  at  Leipsic  in  1853  in  1856  took  out  a  pa- 
tent for  improvements  in  the  construction  of  the  pianoforte,  and  speed- 
ily raised  his  establishment  to  high  reputation.  The  "Aliquotfliigel" 
are  a  specialty  of  Bliithner's,  their  tone  being  reinforced  by  an  oc- 
tave-sti-ing  stretched  above  the  unisons  belonging  to  eacli  tone,  which 
octave-string  is  not  touched  by  the  hammer,  but  vibrates  in  sympathy 
with  the  tone  given  out  by  the  sti-ings  below  it.  Bliithner's  instru- 
ments have  repeatedly  received  the  highest  awards  (Paris  1867, 
Vienna  1873,  Philadelphia  1876,  Sydney  1880,  etc.).  It  would  appear 
that  the  factor}'"  of  Commercienrath  Bliithner  is  at  present  the  leading 
leading  establishment  of  its  class  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Down 
to  the  end  of  1890  the  total  number  of  instruments  made  was  in 
round  numbers  35,000,  about  20,000  of  these  being  Grands,  and 
15,000  Pianinos.  For  some  20  years  no  more  Squares  have  been 
manufactured,  and  only  about  500  in  all  down  to  the  time  of  their 
discontinuance.  Of  the  famous  '-Aliquot"  Grands  nearly  7,500  have 
been  finished;  of  Pianinos  with  the  Janko  keyboard,  some  50.  In 
the  year  1890  there  were  made  altogether  2500  instruments.  Grands 
and  Pianinos  in  equal  numbers.  600  workmen  are  regularly  em- 
ployed. Sufficient  proof  of  the  interest  excited  in  musical  circles  by 
the  Jankd  keyboard  is  found  in  tlie  fact,  that  it  has  been  introduced 
among  the  instruments  regularly  taught  at  the  Leipzig  Conservatory, 
with  a  special  instructor,  Herr  Hofpianist  Weudling.  The  latter,  him- 
self a  virtuoso  on  his  instrument,  has  also  had  good  success  in  teaching 
its  peculiar  technique,  as  was  shown  by  the  highly  successful  debut 
of  one  of  his  lady  pupils  at  an  Ahendunterhaltimg  on  Oct.  30  tb, 
1891.  The  instrument  used,  from  Bliithner's  factory,  exhibits  great 
improvements  in  regard  to  both  action  and  tone. 

Theodore  Sttiuway  of  New  York  has  established  a  branch  fac- 
tory at  Hamburg,  in  which  the  several  parts  of  the  instruments,  sent 
in  a  finished  condition  from  New  York,  are  put  together. — In  Bruns- 
wick  the   factory   still   flourishes  which   Heinrich  Steinway,    on    his 


—     277     — 

removal  to  New  York,  made  over  to  his  eldest  son  Theodor;  the 
latter  carried  it  on  till  1865,  in  which  year  he  also  went  to  America; 
the  present  firm  is  Theodor  Steinway's  Successors,  Helferich,  Grotrian 
and  Co. 

In  South  Germany  the  instruments  made  by  J.  L.  Schiedmayer 
and  Sohne  of  Stuttgart  have  won  a  well-earned  and  wide  reputation, 
being  distinguished  by  excellent  workmanship,  a  fine  tone,  and  facile 
touch.  The  pianos  of  A.  Biber  in  Munich  enjoy  equal  popularity  by 
reason  of  their  durability  and  simple,  readily  answering  action. — The 
renown  of  the  Viennese  pianoforte  factories  is  maintained  in  our  day, 
among  many  others,  by  the  following  makers:  Carl  Stein,  Ernst 
Streicher  (both  descendants  of  the  masters  previously  mentioned), 
Conrad  Graf,  Ludwig  Bosendorfer,  and  M.  Schweighofers  Wittwe. 
The  factory  of  Herr  L.  Bosendorfer  is  at  present  tbe  largest  in  Au- 
stria; it  was  founded  by  the  father  of  the  present  owner  in  1828, 
and  carried  on  by  him  till  1859,  down  to  which  time  the  instruments 
were  not  numbered.  Since  1859,  12,430  pianofortes  have  been  made, 
but  hardly  1"/^  of  this  total  were  pianinos,  all  the  rest  being  grands. 
The  Bosendorfer  grands  are  the  only  make  used  by  virtuosi  in  Austria. 

In  Switzerland  the  Huni  and  Hubert  Pianofortes  of  Zurich  are 
in  great  demand;  while  in  Italy,  the  native  country  of  the  instrument, 
Cristofori's  invention  long  remained  utterly  neglected,  Germany  under- 
taking the  perfection  and  popularization  of  the  same.  As  a  conse- 
quence, all  the  leading  Italian  manufacturers  construct  their  pianos 
on  the  "Prussian"  system,  as  Eoeseler  of  Turin,  Colomba  e  Grimm  of 
Milan,  Maltarello  of  Vicenza,  Niccola  Lacchin  of  Padua,  Sievers*  oj 
Naples,  etc. 


—        The  Modern  Pianoforte. 

Although  the  instruments  of  the  makers  named  above  fulfil  the 
requirements  of  modern  pianoforte  virtuosi  in  their  extraordinary  per- 
formances, carried  up  to  a  dizzy  height  by  the  fiery  inspiration  of 
the  unrivalled  champion,  Franz  Liszt,  the  pianoforte-makers  of  Germany, 


*  G.  F.  Sievers  has  likewise  published  a  very  complete  Handbook  of 
Pianoforte  construction  entitled  "II  Pianoforte,  guida  pratica  etc".  Napoli, 
Benedetto  Pelerano,  1868.  With  numerous  drawings,  and  an  Atlas  in  folio, 
containing  illustrations  of  the  English,  Streicher,  Pleyel,  Erard,  and  Steinway 
actions  in  their  natural  size. 


—     278     — 

France,  England  and  America  strive  incessantly  to  perfect  the  con- 
struction of  the  separate  parts  of  the  instrument. 

The  unheard-of  force  exerted  by  Liszt  and  his  numerous  pupils 
occasioned  the  instrument-makers  to  construct  the  wrestplank  with  the 
tuning-pins  of  the  strings,  and  the  string-plate,  in  the  best  possible 
manner,  to  obviate  getting  out  of  tune  as  far  as  might  be.  To  this 
end  both  supports  of  the  ends  of  the  strings  were  screwed  fast  to 
iron  plates,  and  held  at  a  proper  distance  apart  by  cross-bars.  A 
patent  taken  out  in  1820  by  Thorn  and  Allen  for  such  an  arrange- 
ment was  first  practically  applied  later  by  Stodart  in  London;  and 
a  still  more  practical  invention  was  a  cast-iron  frame  combining  the 
said  iron  plates  and  cross-bars  in  a  single  piece  of  metal  of  the 
same  kind. 

The  strings  of  the  concert  grand,  which  formerly  sometimes 
snapped  under  Liszt's  titanic  grasp,  withstood  it  after  being  made  of 
the  toughest  material,  cast  steel.  The  English  strings  of  Webster  in 
Manchester,  formerly  universally  employed,  were  later  surpassed  in 
tension-power  by  those  of  Miller  in  Vienna.  Furthermore,  the  tone 
of  the  pianoforte  has  lost  all  sharpness  and  gained  in  fullness,  since 
the  hammers  have  been  covered  with  specially  prepared  felt  instead 
of  leather. 

Ingenious  as  was  the  Erard  action  with  double  escapement,  its 
manufacture  and  repairing  have  always  been  attended  by  great  diffi- 
culties. Modern  piano -makers  therefore  spare  no  pains  to  simplify 
this  hammer-action,  or  at  least  to  render  it  as  durable  as  possible, 
without  sacrificing  its  lightness  of  touch. 

Besides  the  great  Concert  Grands,  with  a  compass  frequently 
exceeding  seven  octaves.  Parlor  Grands  and  Semi-Grands  are  also 
made;  and  the  Square  Piano,  still  a  favorite  in  England  and  America, 
has  in  Germany  been  almost  entirely  superseded  by  the  Pianino  or 
Upright  Piano.  This  latter  instrument,  evolved  from  the  upright 
grands  or  "cottages",  has  an  overstriking  action,  the  hammers  of 
which  are  centred  on  a  separate  wooden  rail,  the  strings  being 
overstrung  as  in  the  grands.  The  overstrung  pattern  of  Steinway 
and  Sons  in  New  York  has  now  been  almost  universally  adopted  as 
the  most  practical  one  for  Grands,  Squares,  and  Uprights. 

A  recent  invention  for  the  pianoforte  deserves  more  attention  than 
it  has  hitherto  received,  for  it  will  become  indispensable  to  all  pia- 
nists whenever  gifted  composers  shall  recognize  it  as  an  effective 
means  of  expression,  and  apply  it  in  their  compositions.    This  is  the 


—     279     — 

*pedale  de  prolongement"  (prolongation  pedal)  practically  employed 
in  1860  by  Debain  of  Paris,  in  1862  by  Montal  of  London.  It  was 
simplified  and  improved  by  Stcinway  of  New  York  in  1874.  By 
its  aid  a  tone  or  full  chord,  when  struck,  can  he  sustained  even 
while  both  hands  of  the  player  are  executing  suitable  runs  nnd 
passages,  and  while  the  soft  and  loud  pedals  arc  used  at  pleasure. 
The  sustained  tone  or  chord  continues  singing  until  the  foot  releases 
the  pedal  by  which  it  was  taken. 

Other  recent  contrivances  for  the  improvement  of  the  pianoforte 
have  been,  in  part,  attempted  earlier  without  finding  favor,  or  were 
too  complicated  in  construction  to  remain  permanently  in  serviceable 
condition,  and  were  consequently  slighted  as  worthless  or  unpractical 
from  the  beginning. 

The  double  pianofortes,  on  which  two  persons  can  play  at 
once,  each  on  a  separate  keyboard,  appear  from  time  to  time,  though 
without  meeting  with  success.  One  of  the  latest  pianos  with  two 
keyboards  is  the  "Piano  Mangeot"  (a  deux  claviers  renverses),  played 
on  in  1879  by  Jules  de  Zarembski  at  the  Paris  Exposition.  Whereas 
in  the  fonner  double -keyboard  grands  the  keyboards  ran  parallel 
like  the  organ  manuals,  and  could  also  be  coupled,  the  keyboards 
of  the  Piano  ^langeot,  though  lying  stepwise  one  above  the  other, 
are  in  opposition,  the  tones  of  the  lower  ascending  as  usual  from 
left  to  right,  while  those  of  the  upper  ascend  from  right  to  left,  so 
that  a  scale,  for  instance,  played  in  contrary  motion  sounds  in  pa- 
rallel motion  or  even  in  unison.  The  attempt  to  give  the  same  color 
to  all  keys  having  the  same  name,  e.  g.  all  C-keys  blue,  all  D-keys 
red,  etc.  has  probably  found  no  imitators.  The  Society  "Croma", 
which  has  tried  for  years  to  introduce  a  so-called  chromatic  keyboard 
having  six  white  keys  in  regular  alternation  with  six  black  ones, 
likewise  appears  to  remain  "exclusive".  On  the  other  hand,  Eduard 
Zachariae's  "Kunstpedal",  which  by  means  of  various  combinations 
lifts  the  dampers  from  lower,  medium,  or  higher  groups  of  strings, 
thus  allowing  them  to  sound  on,  has  found  some  little  practical 
application. 

Henri  Herz  of  Paris,  like  the  composers  and  virtuosi  Pleyel  and 
Kalkbrenner,  established  a  pianoforte  factory,  and  in  1851  publicly 
exhibited  a  "Piano  eolicn",  whose  tones  could  be  sustained  and 
swelled  by  means  of  a  current  of  air  directed  against  the  strings  by 
a  bellows  worked  by  a  pedal.  The  piano-maker  Schnell,  62  years 
earlier,  showed  a  similar  instrument,    at   first  in  Paris  and  later  in 


—     280     — 

Germany,  which  won  him  ^eat  applause;  but  neither  this  "Animo- 
corde",  nor  Kalkbrenner's  "pneumatisches  Saiteninstrument",  became 
popular,  despite  their  wondrously  affecting  tone.  The  reason  for  this 
can  be  sought  only  in  the  great  difficulty  of  constructing  them,  and 
the  frequent  need  of  repairs. 

An  arrangement  of  the  keyboard  which  has  latterly  atti*acted 
much  attention,  and  which  stands  in  distant  relationship  to  the  chro- 
matic" keyboard  before  alluded  to,  is  the  invention  of  Paul  von 
Jank6.  On  this  keyboard  the  scale  of  C-major  no  longer  occupies 
the  lower  row  of  keys  exclusively,  as  in  the  ordinary  succession  C, 
JD ,  E,  F,  G,  A^  B,  c,  etc.  The  first  three  of  these  tones  are  pre- 
sented by  white  keys,  and  the  other  three  by  black  keys  on  a 
level  with  the  white.  The  black  keys  answering  to  C<  and  I)^  lie 
slightly  elevated  between  C-D  and  B-E]  between  the  white  key  for 
E  and  the  first  black  key  for  F  lies,  also  elevated,  the  white  key 
for  F\  and  in  like  manner,  between  the  black  keys  F-G-A,  the 
white  keys  for  Gj}  and  A'^  while  between  the  black  A-kej  and  the 
white  c-key  is  found  the  (elevated)  white  ^-key.  Taking  capitals 
for  the  white  keys,  and  small  letters  for  the  black  ones,  the  following 
arrangement  would  show  the  grouping  of  the  octave. 

Upper  row  of  keys:        c^   d^   F  G   A   B 
Lower  row  of  keys:     C    B    E  f^  g^  a^  c 

Thus,  to  play  this  octave  chromatically,  the  keys  in  two  rows 
lying  one  above  the  other  have  to  be  touched  alternately.  The 
entire  keyboard,  however,  consists  of  a  triple  series  of  keyboards 
paired  in  the  above  manner,  and  presenting  to  the  eye  six  different 
and  apparently  inde])eudent  rows  of  keys  ascending  stepwise,  as  shown 


in  the  accompanying  cut,  which   exhibits  a  section  of  the  keyboard 
embracing  about  two  octaves. 


—     281     — 

Eaeh  tone  of  the  old  keyboard  is  given. three  times  on  the  Jank6 
keyboard,  as  it  can  be  struck  by  means  of  the  same  key-lever  at 
three  different  places  lying;  one  above  the  other,  as  the  unattached 
keys  on  either  side  of  the  cut  show.  This  construction,  it  is  con- 
tended, accommodates  itself  better  to  the  shape  and  natural  position 
of  the  hand  than  the  ordinary  keyboard,  because  in  any  given  case 
one  can  choose  that  key,  of  the  three  sounding  each  tone,  which  is 
most  convenient  for  the  hand  at  the  given  instant.  The  inventor 
commends,  as  a  peculiar  advantage  of  his  keyboard,  the  point  that 
only  one  fingering  is  needed  for  all  the  scales,  and  that  the  stretched 
hand  commands  a  wider  compass  than  on  the  ordinary  keyboard, 
the  playing  of  music  in  full  harmonies  or  polyphonic  style  being 
this  materially  facilitated.  The  width  of  an  octave  on  the  ordinary 
keyboard  corresponds  exactly  to  that  of  a  tenth  on  this;  on  the  latter 
large  hands  can  conveniently  stretch  a  thirteenth,  or  even  a  four- 
teenth (c' — a"  1$).  Despite  its  very  apparent  advantages  for  transcendant 
execution,  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  new  keyboard  will  win 
general  popularity;  at  any  rate  the  invention  is  an  extremely  in- 
genious one,  and  the  attention  paid  to  it  by  various  manufacturers 
is  deserving  of  commendation.  The  first  grands  with  the  Jank6 
keyboard  were  made  by  R.  W.  Kurka  of  Vienna,  who  was  followed 
by  R.  Ibach  Sohn  of  Barmen,  Duysen  of  Berlin,  J.  G.  Vogel  and 
Sohn  of  Plauen,  Kaps  of  Dresden,  and  others.  The  latter  took  pains 
to  lighten  the  touch,  which  was  too  heavy  in  the  pianos  first  turned 
out,  by  means  of  technical  improvements.    O.  L.] 

The  numerous  devices  for  noting  down  the  tones  of  perform- 
ance on  the  pianoforte,  by  the  aid  of  a  revolving  drum  or  an  ad- 
vancing strip  of  paper,  in  the  form  of  dots  and  lines  of  varying 
length,  which  signs  could  then  be  written  out  in  notes  of  correspond- 
ing height  (pitch)  and  length  —  have  failed  on  account  of  their 
complicated  form  and  liability  to  get  out  of  order.  The  first  note- 
writing  machine  of  this  kind  was  theoretically  described,  though 
never  made  to  work  in  practice,  by  a  London  clergyman  named 
Creed,  in  the  Philosophical  Transations  for  1747.  The  mechanician 
Hohlfeld  of  Berlin  was  the  first  to  construct  one,  which  he  delivered 
to  the  Berlin  Academy  for  trial  in  1852.  He  was  followed  at  inter- 
vals by  Englishmen,  Germans,  and  Frenchmen  with  similar  inventions, 
bearing  the  names  of  Piano  stenographe,  Melograph,  Pianographe,  etc. 
Most  of  them  were  loudly  praised  on  their  appearance,  but  have 
nevertheless  not  won  general  favor.    Even  the  celebrated  "Notograph" 


—     282     — 

of  Sclimeil,  a  teacher  in  ^Magdeburg,  has  met  the  same  fate  as  the 
rest.  The  electric  "Melograph",  in  which  the  depression  of  the  piano- 
keys  closes  a  circuit,  causing  the  music  to  be  recorded  on  a  strip  of 
paper  in  much  the  same  way  as  a  message  is  taken  by  a  Morse 
telegraphic  apparatus,  is  perhaps  the  most  successful  of  all  these 
inventions;  the  music  so  noted  down  can  be  transferred  to  a  stiff 
sheet  of  cardboard,  and  then  reproduced  in  the  "Melotrope". 

The  Augustiuian  friar  Engramelle  of  Paris  probably  did  not 
think,  when  he  published  his  work  on  "La  tonotechnie  ou  I'art  de 
noter  les  cylindres  etc."  (The  art  of  registering  the  cylinders  of  barrel- 
organs)  in  1775,  of  ever  employing  it  for  noting  a  piano  perfor- 
mance. It  happened  that  a  friend  of  his,  a  musician  named  Baptiste, 
once  praised  the  compositions  of  an  Italian  pianist,  and  regretted  his 
refusal  to  make  them  public.  Engramelle  requested  that  the  Italian 
might  be  introduced  to  him,  and  on  this  occasion  the  virtuoso  executed 
his  celebrated  compositions.  During  a  second  visit  from  the  two 
musicians  Engramelle  exhibited  a  little  hand-organ  (Serinette  or  bird- 
organ),  which  startled  the  Italian  by  reproducing  with  astonishing 
accuracy  the  compositions  he  had  so  jealously  withheld.  Engramelle, 
as  it  proved,  had  fastened  underneath  his  piano  the  cylinder  of  a 
barrel-organ,  covered  with  white  paper,  and  so  connected  with  the 
keyboard  that  the  tones  produced  by  depressing  the  keys  were  noted 
on  the  cylinder.  At  each  revolution,  the  cylinder  advanced  by  a  line, 
to  present  a  blank  surface  for  the  next  series  of  note-signs.  These 
signs  were  then  filled  out  with  little  pegs  and  ridges  of  wire,  and 
the  cylinder  thus  prepared  was  placed  in  the  box  containing  the  pipes 
and  the  crank-action,  on  turning  which  latter  the  music  would  imme- 
diately be  reproduced. 

Here  another  invention  must  be  mentioned,  which,  though  having 
no  influence  on  the  construction  of  the  pianoforte,  has  from  time  to 
time  been  thought  important  in  teaching  pianoforte-playing.  This  is 
the  Chiro])last  or  Hand- guide  invented  by  Logier  in  England  about 
1814.  Two  smooth  wooden  rails,  adjusted  in  front  of  and  higher 
than  the  keys,  held  the  hands,  when  the  latter  were  passed  between 
them,  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  keys,  while  a  pair  of  open 
gloves  kept  the  fingers  in  the  most  correct  position.  In  spite  of 
many  opponents,  the  Chiroplast  won  the  approval  of  eminent  piano- 
teachers  in  London.  Kalkbrenner  joined  Logier  later,  and  made  in- 
numerable partisans  for  the  hand-guide,  but  in  the  sequel  perceived 
its  deficiencies;  for  the  two   rails  between  which  the  hands  moved 


—     283     — 

did  not  even  admit  the  passing  under  of  the  thumb  or  the  passing 
over  of  any  finger.  He  therefore  discarded  the  upper  part  of  the 
arrangement,  and  then  recommended  the  improved  Chiroplast  under 
the  name  of  "guide-main".  Liszt  proposed  that  it  should  be  more 
appropriately  named  "guide-ane",  thus  dealing  a  death-blow  to  the 
invention. 

Nevertheless  similar  appliances,  altered  and  improved,  reappear 
now  and  then,  and  but  a  short  time  ago  an  "automatic  piano  hand- 
guide"  constructed  by  W.  Bohrer  of  Montreal,  intended  to  constrain 
the  pupil  to  hold  the  arm  and  hand  correctly  while  playing,  found 
the  approbation  of  noteworthy  teachers.  In  our  opinion  such  mechanical 
aids  ought  never  to  come  into  general  use,  but  be  chosen  only 
in  special  cases  when  the  pupil's  individuality  demands  them,  and 
employed  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period. 

As  soon  as  the  earlier  clavichords  and  harpsichords  became 
capable  of  sounding  full  chords  distinctly,  they  were  used  by  com- 
posers, by  reason  of  their  easier  management  and  more  pleasing  tone, 
in  preference  to  the  zithers  and  lutes  previously  predominant.  The 
clavichord,  on  account  of  its  weaker  tone,  was  to  be  found  only  in 
private  apartments,  whereas  the  more  brilliant  harpsichord  appeared 
in  public  soon  after  it  had  assumed  a  presentable  shape. 

Early  in  the  year  1600,  when  one  of  the  first  dramas  in  the 
recitative  style  provided  throughout  with  music,  Jacopo  Peri's  "Euri- 
dice",  was  given  at  Florence,  the  composer  thought  the  clavicembalo 
already  sufficiently  important  to  reinforce  the  accompanying  orchestra. 
In  the  same  year  a  sacred  musical  drama  composed  by  Emilio  de' 
Cavalieri,  "La  rappresentazione  di  auima  e  di  corpo",  was  brought  out 
at  Rome  in  the  oratory  —  hence  the  general  name  of  such  musical 
works.  Oratorio  —  of  the  church  della  vallicella,  in  dramatic  style 
and  interspersed  with  dances,  on  a  stage  furnished  with  deco- 
rations. The  accompanying  instruments  were  stationed  behind  the 
scenes,  reinforced  as  in  the  opera  mentioned  above  by  a  clavicembalo, 
together  with  lutes  of  various  kinds,  violins,  and  flutes.  Even  in  the 
17th  century,  after  the  bass-viols,  viols,  and  violins  had  taken  the 
leading  place  in  the  orchestra,  a  cemballist  was  still  specially  engaged 
in  the  theatres  for  executing  the  harmonic  accompaniment  to  the 
opera  recitatives.  In  the  18th  century  the  pianoforte  was  sometimes 
substituted  for  the  harpsichord;  in  this  century  the  original  Russian 
composer  Glinka  introduced  it  into  the  orchestra  as  a  solo  instru- 
ment in  his  romantic  opera  "Russian  and  Ludmilla." 


—     284     — 

The  pianoforte  has  such  a  peculiar  tone,  that  even  in  the  opera 
it  might  well  suggest  new  shadings,  incisive  arpeggi,  and  effective 
combinations  with  the  other  orchestral  instruments,  as  the  pianoforte 
concertos  of  our  classic  masters  convincingly  prove. 

In  the  music -rooms  of  composers  of  all  nationalities  we  find 
the  pianoforte,  which  can  audibly  reproduce  the  pictures  of  their 
fancy,  thus  providing  a  sketch  for  the  future  painting.  In  the  Museum 
of  the  Paris  Conservatory  of  Music  are  several  such  insti-uments  once 
belonging  to  celebrated  composers;  for  instance  No.  231,  in  which 
Meyerbeer  inscribed  the  fact  that  at  this  piano,  placed  at  his  disposal 
by  his  friend  Peter  Pixis  (1835  at  Baden),  he  composed  a  great 
part  of  his  opera  "The  Huguenots". 

Franz  Liszt,  to  whom  we  owe  not  merely  the  present  high  pitch 
of  pianoforte-playing,  but  in  consequence  of  it  the  great  development 
of  the  modern  concert  grand  as  well,  kindly  wrote  me  a  letter,  con- 
cerning his  own  instruments,  which  possesses  permanent  value  on 
account  of  its  mentioning  the  most  admirable  pianofortes  of  his  time, 
at  the  head  of  which  there  stands,  since  1873,  a  magnificent  Steinway 
grand.  Its  reproduction  therefore  forms  a  fitting  close  to  my  History 
of  the  Pianoforte. 

To  C.  F.  Weitzmann,  Berlin. 

Weimar,  Aug.  14,  1861. 

In  reply  to  your  question  touching  the  Beethoven 

pianoforte  and  the  Mozart  spinet,  I  can  give  you  the  following  infor- 
mation. 

The  Beethoven  pianoforte  (from  C  to  C)  was  selected  for  the 
great  man  by  Ries,  Cramer,  Knyvett,  Moscheles,  and  Kalkbrenner  in 
London  at  Broadwood's,  and  furnished  with  the  signatures  of  these 
gentlemen  and  a  Latin  inscription  by  Broad  wood.  Schindler,  in  his 
for  the  most  part  repulsive  biography  of  Beethoven,  mentions  this 
present,  which  gave  B.  gi-eat  pleasure,  and  always  served  in  his 
room  as  a  show-piano,  although  people  in  Vienna  averred  that  He 
generally  used  it  untuned,  and  without  having  the  snapped  strings 
restrung.  After  his  death  it  was  bought  by  Herr  Spina,  with  whom 
I  grew  to  be  on  friendly  terms  through  my  editorial  connection  with 
the  publishing  house  of  Diabelli  (whose  main  stay  he  was)  —  and  in 
1845  Spina  presented  me  with  this  art-relic  at  Vienna. 

The  Mozart  spinet  is  of  far  less  value.  I  cannot  now  remember 
just  how  many  octaves  it  has  —  probably  not  quite  5.  —  Nine  years 


—     285     — 

ago  it  was  announced  for  sale  in  the  music-journals,  and  presented 
to  me  by  the  Princess  of  Wittgenstein  through  the  agency  of  Bar- 
tholf  Senff  of  Leipzig  (aboutl  852  or  '53  at  latest).  Mozart  being,  as 
you  are  aware,  more  of  a  traveler  than  Beethoven,  a  larger  number 
of  pianos  and  spinets  used  by  Him  are  extant.  The  one  you  saw 
a  short  time  since  at  the  Altenburg  came  from  Salzburg  to  Leipzig 
and  "Weimar,  accompanied  by  several  authenticating  documents.  In 
Salzburg  and  other  places  there  are  similar  pieces  of  furniture  of 
Mozart's,  the  most  appropriate  place  for  which  would  seem  to  be 
the  Germanic  Museum  at  Nuremberg. 

Finally,  honored  friend,  with  reference  to  pianos  of  my  own, 
there  are  the  following  at  the  Altenburg:  —  1  Erard  in  the  reception- 
room  in  the  first  story  —  1  Bechstein  in  the  little  parlor  adjoining — 
1  Boisselot  (Marseilles)  in  my  study  or  workroom.  N.  B.  Louis 
Boisselot  was  a  friend  of  mine,  and  accompanied  me  on  the  whole 
trip  through  Spain  and  Portugal  ('45  to  '47).  He  died  soon  after  — 
I  kept  this  piano,  which  besides  underwent  some  other  remarkable 
vicissitudes  of  fortune  which  I  will  relate  to  you  when  occasion 
serves.  In  the  state  it  has  been  in  for  several  years  it  can  hardly  be 
played  on  by  any  one  else,  yet  I  can  neither  make  up  my  mind  to 
put  it  aside,  nor  even  to  place  another  beside  it  in  my  study. 

In  the  so-called  Musik-Salon  (2nd  story)  there  stand  two  Vienna 
grands  made  by  Streicher  and  Bosendorfer,  and  in  the  other  room  a 
Hungarian  grand  made  by  Beregszazy — 

Tostscriptum. 

Weimar,  May  24,  1878. 
To  the  above,  written  in  1861,  I  may  add,  that  in  my  present 
domicile  at  Weimar  ("Hofgartnerei")  there  shines  every  year  a  Bech- 
stein grand,  and  during  my  winter  sojourn  in  Pesth  one  or  two 
Bosendorfer  grands  (as  my  apartments  there  have  room  for  several 
pianofortes).  Chickering's  grand,  which  I  used  in  Rome,  now  stands 
in  state  in  Hungary,  and  that  made  by  Steinway  frequently  appears 
here  in  concerts.  j^  lAszt 


-t>®H^^^ 


APPENDIX  I. 


CLAVIER   COMPOSITIONS 


OF  THE 


SIXTEENTH,  SEVEllTEENTH,  AND  EIGHTEENTH  CENTORIEa. 


TABLE  OP  CONTENTS. 


Pag« 

I.  Claudio  Merulo,  Toccata 291 

n.  Girolamo  Frescobaldi,  Canzona 293 

m.  Bernardo  Pasquini,  Sonata 298 

rV".  Franscesco  Durante,  Sonata 304 

V.  Pier  Domenico  Paradies,  Sonata 308 

VI.  Thomas  Tallis,  Lesson 314 

Vn.  William  Bird,  The  Carman's  WMstle 317 

VTTT.  Orlando  Gribbons,  The  Queene's  Commtuid         321 

IX.  Henry  Purcell,  Riggadoon 323 

X.  Jean  Henry  d'Anglebert,  AUemande 324 

XI.  Fran9ois  Couperin,  Pr61ude 326 

Xn.  Lotiis  Marchand,  Gavotte 328 

XIII.  Johann  Jacob  Frobberger,  Phantasia 330 

XrV.  Gottlieb  Muffat,  Sarabande  and  Fugue 336 

XV.  Heinrich  Stolzel,  Enharmonic  Sonata 338 

XVI.  Schobert,  Andante 340 

XVn.  Carl  PhUipp  Emanuel  Bach,  Sonate 342 

XVni.  Joseph  Hiillmandel,  Divertissement 346 

XIX.  Agrements 351 


19 


291 


I.  Claudio  Merulo.  1532-1604, 


Toccata. 


292 


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Toccate  iPintavolatura  d'<)re:aiio.  lil*.  I.  Rom,  159S. 

F.  J.  F«'tis,  Traite  complet  de  la  Theorie  et  de  la  Prati<iue  (!.■  I'Harmoiue. 


293 


II.  Girolamo  Frescobaldi.  1588-1645.  (?) 


Canzona  in  sesto  tono: 


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II  primo  libro  di  Caprieoi,  Cauzon  fr;iiire.-<e,  e  Recercari,  fatti  sopra  divprsi 
sogetti  et  arie.  In  Partidura  (sic)  di  Girolamo  Frescobaldi,  organista  in  San 
Pietro  di  Koma.  Novanu-nte  ristHi!i[iati  con  privilPirio.  lu  Venetia,  apjjies.-o  A- 
les.sandro  Vincenti   MDCXXVI.  (1626.)   Knur- part  .-«<•(']•*'  with  harh. 


^98 


III.  Bernardo  Pasquini.  1637-1710. 

Sonata. 


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299 


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300 


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301 


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Majiu-friiit  (»f  th(-  yt'ar  173ii  iu  tlie  Hriti,~li  Muspum  at  Lontloii. 


304 


IV.  Francesco  Durante.  1684-1755. 

Sonata. 


1. 

Adagio. 


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306 


3.  Gi^a 


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Miinuscript  of  the  year  1732  in  the  Biiti^^h  Museum  at  Lfunlon. 


308 


V.  Pier  Domenico  Paradies.  1746. 

Sonata. 
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Sonate  di  C]avic»'mbalo da  Pier  iWinicnibTt  Paradifs  Napolitano.  London, 

J.  Blundell  (1746-1747.) 

Ttic  above  two  movements  form  the  fourth  of  the  12  l^onatas  in  this  i)art. 


314 


VI.  Thomas  Tallis.  d.  1525. 


Lesson, two  partes  in  one. 


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Musira  aiitiqwa,  by  John  Htafforfl  S'mitli.VoI.  I.  p.  70.  Loudon,  Prp.'^ton. 

Som*i  notes  of  the  soprano,  in  tin*  first  measures  of  tliis  'i-part  canon,  are 
marked  with  trill- signs,  which  are,iiowever,  of  no  importance,  as  they  do  not 
oc( ur  further  on. 


317 


VII.  William  Bird.  1538-1523. 

The  Carmaris  Whistle,  Na58  in'^Queen  Elizabeth's  Virginal  book'.' 


i 


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r  1^:  r  nr 


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318 


Var.  5, 


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Ch.  Kurney,  (ii'iieral  History  of  Music,  Vol.  Ill,  S9. 


321 


VIII.  Orlando  Giblons.  1583-1525. 


The  Queene's  Commaud,  20t^Les.«!0ll,  from  Tarthenia,  or  the  Maydenhead  of  thu 
first  musicke  that  ♦'ner  was  printed  for  the  Virginalls,  London,  1655. 


i 


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6 


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Var.  1. 


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a  .  f  .  0 


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322 


Var.  5. 


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^U^ 


J.  ^t.  Smitli,  Musi'Ji  antitiua,  Vdl.  I,  75. 


323 


IX.  Henry  Purcell.  1558-1695. 

Riggadoon  from  Musick's  Hand-maid  by  Playford,  1689. 

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J.  Ht.  Smith,  Musica  antiqua,Vol.  II,  185. 


334 


X.  Jean  Henry  d'Anglebert.  1689. 

Allemande. 


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325 


Piece's  de  Clavessin  etc.  liv.  I.  Paris,  1689.  ^^--^ — -^f 

The  agremeuts  of  the  ahove  Allemande  have  been  written  out  in  modern  notation. 


326 


XI.  Francois  Couperin.  1668-1733. 

Prelude. 


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327 


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L'art  df  touf-lier  le  chiveein  jiar  Morisieur  rouptTin,  dedie  a  ya  Majeste. 
J'ari-<,  1717.  I'a^.  54. 


328 


XII.  Louis  Marchand.  1669  -1732. 

Gavotte. 


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329 


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A   History  of  Musif,  liy  Thoniiis  Hu>liy,  (itrniaii  transliition  hy  (h.F.  Mif  hat-lis. 
Band  II.  Leijizisj  182'i,  Bauniiriiiitnr. 


330 


XIII.  Johann  Jacob  Froberger.  1635-1695. 

Phantasia  supra   ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  Clavicymbalis 

accommodata. 


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336 


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338 


XV.  G.  Heinrich  Sfdlzel.  1690-1749. 

Finale  from  the  Enharmonic  Clavier- Sonata. 


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From  thP  Musikalisches   Allcrley  (edited  by  F.  W.  Marpurg-.)  14.   Stiick  1761. 
Berlin,  F  W.  BirJi^tiel. 


340 


XVI.  Scholert.  d.  1758. 

Fragment  from  a  Clavier- sonata. 
Andante. 


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Oeuvres  meUes,  eontenant  VI  Sonates  pour  le  Clavessin.  J.   U.  Haffner  a 
Nuremberg.  (1760 -17a7.) 


842 


XVII.  Carl  Philipp  Emanuel  Bach.  1714-1788. 

Clavier  senate;  first  movement. 
Allegretto. 


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Miisikalisches  Vielerley.  Edited  by  C.Ph.Em.Bacli.Hamhurg-,  1770.  21.Stuck. 


346 


XVIII.  N.  Joseph  Hiillmandel.  1751  -1823. 

IV?  Divertissement. 


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Six  Divertissements  pour  le  Pianoforte  ou  le  Clavecin,  Oeuvre  VII.  Paris, Saunler. 


XIX.  Agrements 


351 


in  earlier  Clavier  Compositions,  and  their  execution 
according  to  the  following  authors. 

J.  H.  d'Angiebert,  1689. 


Sie:ii  iif  the 
At^re'meiit. 


EXffuted. 


-^ ^ 


i\%\ 


(w^ 


Trill. 


Tr.  appuye. 


Cadciiee. 
Trill. 


i 


mn^ 


Pi  II  re. 
Mordeut. 


Pirioe.  Tremblement  et  piiice 


^m 


finite  ou  port  ile  voix 
montant,  (U-.^ceuflant. 
ApiKig-iS^iatiiras. 


W=i- 


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¥^ 


Chutt^  et  piiice. 


^ 


Coule. 
Slide. 

m 


Coule. 


i 


Coule. 


Coule. 


^ 


^P 


352 


Coiilf^. 


^^m 


Chute. 


M 


Arpege . 


^ 


t 


i 


Arpege. 


^ 


Arpege. 


Acciaecatura. 


E.  Loulie,  1696.(j.  G.  Walther,  1732.) 


or or 


i>  m-^f 


^ 


I 


a 


p 


^ 


r — r 


Port  dw  voix. 


Port  de  voix. 


I 


Martellemeiit 
.simple. 

Mordent- 


M 


txn 


0  '  0 


~o 


v,v 


vvv 


F.  Couperin,1718. 


'^ 


rz. 


M. double. 


M.  triple. 


Pince. 


Piuce. 


Mordent  or  Bei^^ser. 


^^ 


^ 


W^ 


Tremhlement. 
Trill. 


P    P0P0W0 


^ 


A"  W    Jr 


F  W.  Marpurg,  1762. 


^ 


-»!♦' 


^ 


Tierce     coulee 


^ 


Port  de  voix.     Appoggiatura 
Apjioggiatura.  Vorschlafz;. 


f=^?^ 


Piuce. 
Mordent . 


S 


^ 


g 


•  ♦    m 


m-^M. 


353 


Pi  ne'e  remerse, 
Iiiv.  Mordent. 


* 


Trf-mblenieiit 
Trill. 


Atciaeeatura.      Double.  Turn. 

Zusammen- 

schlaf^.|  ,5> 


^ 


g^g  ^ 


JJ^i-^^ 


f 


$ 


J.  S.  Petri,  1782. 


**r m   "f 


^^ 


*^       Doppelschlag 
Turn. 


Turn  with  Trill. 
Getrillerter  Doppelschla^. 


Trill. 


^H 


^) 


G.  F.  Wolf  1783. 


_cwJ 


^ 


^=^ 


? 


a: 


Double  Trill  with, 

After- slide. 


Nachschlae:. 


* 


m 


Double  Trill  with 
Fore-sliilf  arid  After- 
lide. 


App<i£C4?iat. 


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^ 


^ 


^t=T 


i 


S 


Cv*v 


^!i?L 


P 


P 


^ 


Appop:^iat. 


Ordinary  Trill. 


Trill  from  above. 


Long-  Mordent. 


0  m0  m0 


M-^M 


m 


s 


The  same  1789. 


C/5 


^ 


p 


Trill  from  below. 


Turn. 


t=^rtr^r^rrr 


Turn  with  Inv. 
Mordent . 


354 


i 


C  P,  B.Bach,  1787. 


3 


^ 


m 


m 

Turn 


O- 


^ 


^     Vorschlagft. 

Appogg-iiituras. 


^ 


^ 


Trill 


S 


S 


W 


•^^"'r"'""r 


i 


F.  PoUini,  1811.         J.  P.  Milchmeyer,  1797. 


^qi^=^ 


^ 


s 


9J 


Gruppetto. 


Gru]>pett() 


Appofc^.     HmallXotf^s 


tWiM 


m 


m 


m 


^m 


«^ 


j^'  0 


J.  G.Walther,  1732,  and  others. 


f  f\f    m  V m 


^ 


f9-*- 


^ 


f 


Small  Note.s. 


(38.) 


Ai^plration. 

N.de  S.  Lambert,  1697. 


Suspension . 

F.  Couperin. 
1713. 


w 


^t"ir  i^-pr 


I 


i 


^ 


I 


s 


ras.sing  shake 

,Callcott,1817, 


(Clavirhonl.) 
Balancenient. 


Turn. 


Turn  from 
below. 


Springins: 
Nac'hsehlag. 


WWi^^iiUnm 


m 


i 


^ 


Milchmeyer,  1799. 


? 


Sliilf- 


e 


^ 


^ 


*• 


i 


^ 
a 


—     355     — 

The  value  of  the  notes  determmes  the  duration  of  the  Trills,  Inverted 
Mordents,  and  Mordents  (the  number  of  the  beats  or  vibrations  of  the  same). 
(Couperin.) 

The  note  with  which  a  Vorschlag  (fore-grace,  appoggiatura)  is  performed, 
whether  it  be  long  or  short,  legato  or  staccato,  ascending  or  descending,  must 
always  fall  on  the  beat  of  its  main  note.     (Marpurg.) 

Not  the  main  note,  but  the  subsidiary  note  above  it,  always  begins  the 
Trill.    (Petri.) 

To  the  first  note  of  those  forming  an  agrement,  all  the  other  parts  must 
be  struck  together. — All  appoggiaturas  are  struck  more  strongly  than  the  follow- 
ing note,  and  drawn  up  (bound)  to  the  latter.  —  At  times  the  harmony  deter- 
mines the  value  of  the  appoggiaturas  (^lore-graces). — A  Trill  upon  a  note  of 
some  length  always  takes  an  after-turn.  Even  with  shorter  notes,  staccato 
notes,  or  notes  progressing  by  seconds,  the  after-turn  is  played,  and  executed 
with  the  same  rapidity  as  the  triU. — Triplets,  and  descending  short  notes, 
take  by  preference  the  Trill  without  after-turn.    (0.  Ph.  E.  Bach.) 


-U^hQ^- 


«3» 


APPENDIX  IL 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


TO  THE 


History  of  the  Pianoforte 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


» 

2. 

n 

3. 

Fi^. 

.  4. 

11 

5. 

n 

6. 

» 

7. 

Fig, 

,  8. 

» 

9. 

V 

10. 

n 

11. 

12. 

The  Preeupsors  cf  the  Clavier. 

After  illustrations  from  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century.  p^^g^ 

Fig.  1.     The  Organ 361 

The  Psaltery  or  Dulcimer 362 

The  Cymbalum 362 

Claviers  from  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century. 

The  Clavichord 363 

The  Harpsichord 364 

The  Clavicitherium 364 

riiigel  of  the  year  1590                  365 

The  Hammer-aetion  of  the  Pianoforte. 

Cristofori,  1711 366 

Marius,  1716 367 

Schroter,  1721.    (1763) 367 

German  action 868 

English  action * 868 


The  Precursors  of  the  Pianoforte. 

After  illustrations  fiom  the  beginning  of  the  16th  eeiitnry. 


Fi<r.  1. 


The  Organ. 


Compass  from  A  to  f.  Keys  projecting  freely,  as  in  all  keyed  instromeuts  of 
that  period.  The  player  had  a  low  seat,  and  struck  or  drew  down  the  heavily 
answcrin;:::  keys  with  the  fingers,  the  wrist  hanging  down  below  the  keys. 


—     362     — 


Fig.  2. 
The  Psaltery. 


This  instrument  also  occurred  in  ;i  square  and  other  forms,  and  had  metalKc 
Btrings,  varying  in  number  from  6,  10,  12,  15,  up  to  38  double  strings. 


Fig.  3. 

The  Cymbalum. 


J 


■^'S-' 


The  metallic  strings,  varying  greatly  in  number,  were  struck  by  two  woodea 
plectra. 


-A 


—     363     — 


Claviers  from  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century. 


Fig.  4. 

The  Clavichord. 


^ 


The  metallic  strings,  varying  in  number,  were  all  of  like  length  and  like 
pitch.  At  first  the  clavichord  had  20  or  21  keys,  but  later  considerably  more. 
The  keys  were  furnished  with  upright  metallic  tangents,  which  struck  against  the 
strings  from  below,  allowing  them  to  sound,  sometimes  in  their  entire  length,  and 
sometimes  shortening  them  at  certain  nodes,  to  make  the  string  yield  the  tone 
corresponding  to  the  place  of  the  key  in  the  keyboard.  Thus  2  or  3  keys  often 
struck  one  and  the  same  string. 


—     364    — 

Fig.  5. 

The  Harpsichopd. 

(Spinet,  Virginal.) 


Each  key  has  a  sejiarate  string,  which  is  plucked  or  twitched  by  the  quill  of 
«  spring-jack  set  on  the  rear  end  of  the  key-lever.  Later,  side  by  side  with  the 
clavichords  in  square  form,  the  Harpsichord  occurs  in  Germany  only  in  the  wing- 
shape  (grand-piano  form). 


Fi-.  6. 


The  Clavicitherium. 


An  upright  harpsichord.  It  was  furnished,  like  all  the  claviers  depicted  here, 
with  metallic  strings,  and  when  wanted  for  playing  was  set,  like  the  others,  upon 
a  suitable  piece  of  furniture.  In  this  figure  the  lower  tones  are  assigned  to  the 
shorter  strings,  the  higher  to  the  longer  ones;  for  this  and  other  irregularities  the 
draughtsmen  of  the  16  th  century  are  responsible. 


—     365     — 


Vlii.  7. 


Harpsichord  of  the  year  1590, 
Win^-shape,  with  two  keyboards. 


After  the  large  and  elegantly  fitted  up  Harpsichord  made  by  Hans  Euckera 
of  Antwerp  in  the  year  1590,  now  in  the  Museum  of  the  Conservatory  of  Music 
at  Paris.  It  has  two  keyboards,  and  its  original  compass  of  4  octaves  was  later 
extended  to  5.  Hans  Ruckers'  instruments  were  distinguished  by  their  full,  even 
tone;  his  harpsichords  were  bichord,  the  lower  strings  of  copper,  the  higher  of 
steel,  and  the  sound-boards  show  most  careful  workmanship. 


—     366 


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Fig.  9. 
II.  Hammer-action  by  Marius,  1716. 


Clavecm  a  Maillets,  invent^  par  M.  Marius.  Cette  deuxieme  Figure  est  pour 
faire  voir  comment  on  peut  ^tablir  un  clavier  h.  maillets  pour  tirer  le  son  en-dessous. 
Le  maillet  T  est  mobile  au  point  V,  et  la  touche  X  mobile  en  Y;  en  ce  cas  il  faut 
que  la  tete  T  du  maillet  soit  plus  pdsante  que  la  queue. 

No  Hammer-clavier  seems  to  have  been  built  according  to  Marius'  models. 
Silbermann  had  made  pianofortes  for  practical  use  as  early  as  1726,  and  not  until 
1763  did  Schroter  make  public  his  models,  which  were  exhibited  at  Dresden  in  1721, 
but  afterwards  lost. 

Fig.  10. 

III.  Pianoforte-action  by  Schroter,  1721  (1763). 


t^ 


-n^ 


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yj 


© 


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-$ 


X 


A — A  is  the  keyboard.  B  and  C  are  rails  on  which  the  keys  lie.  D — D  the 
"driver"  (second  lever);  its  long  front  end  lies  on  the  key,  its  short  rear  end  plays 
on  a  pin  in  the  beam  E.  F  is  the  hammer,  whose  head  is  covered  with  leather; 
the  tail  of  its  shank  acts  at  the  same  time  as  the  damper,  being  covered  with 
velvet.  H  is  the  cross-section  of  a  beam  rounded  on  top,  upon  which  is  adjusted 
a  row  of  pins  on  which  the  hammers  are  hung.  I  is  the  cross-section  of  a  rail  on 
which  the  hammers  rest;  the  latter  rise  to  the  strings  between  two  pins  not  given 
here.  G,  the  hopper,  stands  on  the  long  front  end  of  the  second  lever  D — D;  it 
is  held  to  a  straight  course  by  two  rows  of  thin  pins  not  shown  here,  which  reach 
from  beam  I  over  to  beam  H.  K  is  the  stout  wrest-plank.  L  is  the  string,  held 
in  position  by  little  pegs  on  the  bridge  M.  N  is  a  strong,  smooth  iron  bridge, 
rounded  underneath,  which  must  press  firmly  on  the  strings,  as  they  would  other- 
wise yield  but  a  faint,  weak  tone. 


—     368     — 

Fig.  11. 

IV.  German  or  Viennese  Action. 

Invented  by  Johann  Andreas  Stein. 


The  shank  of  the  hammer  plays  in  a  brass  socket  fixed  on  an  iron  pin,  which 
stands  on  the  key-lever  itself.  On  pressing  down  the  key,  the  hammer-butt  catches 
in  the  spring-flange  of  the  hopper  behind  the  key,  is  lifted  by  it  against  the 
string,  and  instantly  drops  into  its  former  position. 


Fiff.  12. 


V.  The  so-called  English  Action, 

already  employed  by  Cristofori,  and  thereafter  variously  improved  by 

Silbermann,  Streieher,  Broadwood,  and  others. 


The  hammers  are  adjusted  upon  a  separate  r;iil  over  the  keys,  and  are  driven 
against  the  strings  by  a  jack,  which  is  fastened  to  the  rear  end  of  each  key-lever 
by  a  strip  of  parchment,  and  is  at  the  same  time  a  spring-hopper.  The  hammers 
are  provided  with  checks  and  the  strings  with  dampers,  but  these  variously  adjusted 
appliances  are  not  shown  here,  in  order  to  exhibit  more  clearly  the  chief  features 
of  this  action. 


INDEX. 


Abel,  C.  F.  82. 

Accompaniment,  Theory  of  15.  48.  53.  58. 

Action  of  pianoforte  (Cuts)  Cristofori  366. 

Marius  367.  Schroeter  367.  German  368. 

English  368. 
Adagio  (Beethoven)  122. 
Adam,  L.  149. 
Adiung  250. 

Adrian  Petit  Coclicus,  10.  11. 
Agr6ments,  351. 
Agricola,  J.  F.  47.  262. 
Agthe,  A.  129. 
Albert,  H.  48. 
d'Albert,  E.  195. 
Alberti,  D.  22. 
Albertinian  Bass  22-3. 
Albrechtsberger,  J.  G.  108.  ii6. 
d'Alembert  241. 
Aliquot  276. 
Alkan,  C.  V.  106.  167. 
Allemande  65.  71. 
Alternative  67. 
Ammerbach  33.  237. 
Andante  (Beethoven)  122. 
Andr6,  C.  A.  217. 
Angeleri  131. 

d'Anglebert  26.  (Mus.  App.)  324. 
Animocorde  280. 
Ansorge,  C.  196. 
Appoggiatura  57. 
Arcicembalo  236. 
Aristoxenos  233. 
Aron,  Piero  234-5. 
Arpicordo  225. 

Arrangements  for  piano  183.  184. 
Ascher,  J.  154. 
Ausloser  216. 
Automatic  Piano  Hand-guide  283. 

B. 

Bacchanales  97. 

Bach,  K.  Ph.  E.   14.  43.  56-59.   61.  64.  75. 
(Mus.  App.)  342. 


Bach,  Johann  Christian  43.  61. 

Bach,  J.  Christoph  Friedrich  43. 

Bach,   Johann   Sebastian  28.  40.  41-7    71 

(Works)  45. 
Bach,  W.  Friedemann  42.  55. 
Backers  272. 
Bagatelles  106.  112.  124. 
Balancement  (Bebung)  60.  226. 
Balance  key-pin  216.     Balance-rail  216. 
Balbastre,  C.  147. 
Balikirew  207. 

Ballades  146.  158.  168.  200.  204.  206. 
Ballscenen  163.  202. 
Banchieri,  A.  12. 
Bar,  X. 
Barbiton  223. 

Barcaroles  135.  166.  202.  203. 
Bargiel,  W.  165. 
Earth,  H.  171. 

Basso  continuo,  X.  12.  15.  39.238. 
Basso  ostinato  50.  68.  108. 
Bebung  60.  226. 
Bechstein,  K.  275. 
Becker,  C.  F.  237.  242. 
Becker,  G.  224. 
Beecke,  I.  von  84.  92. 
Beethoven,  L.  van  71.  115-124. 
Begue,  le  26. 
Belle ville-Oury,  de  128. 
Belsono  real  252. 
Bembo,  P.  5. 
Benda,  G.  52.  64. 
Bendel,  F.  169.  194. 
Benedict,  J.  113.  144. 
Bennett,  \V.  Sterndale  145. 
Berceuses  146.  158.  205. 
Berger,  I..  94.  106.  142. 
Beringer,  O.  194. 
Berlioz,  H.  183. 
Bernhard  the  German  4. 
Bertini,  H.  153. 
Berwald,  F.  179. 
Beyer,  F.  154. 
Bial,  C.  194. 


—    370 


Biber,  A.  277. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Weitzmann,  V. 

Bird,  W.  25  (Mus.  App.)  317. 

Bitter,  C.  H.  47.  64. 

Blaha,  V.  von  253. 

Blahetka,  L.  138. 

Blassmann,  A.   175. 

Bluthner,  J.  217.  276. 

Blumenthal,  J.  180. 

Bocklet,  C.  M.  von  133, 

Bogenfliigel  (Piano-violin)  255. 

Bogenhammerclavier  255. 

Bohner,  L.  141. 

Bohrer,  W.  283. 

Bolero  159. 

Bononcini,  G.  M.  9. 

Bontempi,  G.  A.  231. 

Borodin,  A.  207. 

Bosendorfer,  L.  277. 

Bourr6e  67. 

Brahms,  J.  166.  200. 

Branle  68, 

Brassin,  L.  178. 

Brendel,  F,  162. 

Brilliant  Style  126. 

Broadwood,  J.  271.  2'^^. 

Brocken,  von  245. 

Bronsart,  H.  von  194. 

Brull,  I,  177. 

Bruhn,  N.  42. 

Brunner,  C.  T.  154. 

Billow,  Hans  von  105.  124.  144.  172.  173. 

192-3. 
Burgel,  C.  165. 
Bull,  Dr.  25. 
Bull,  J.  P.  249. 
Bundfrei  246.  267. 
Buonaccordo  225. 
Buret  26. 

Burgmiiller,  F.  154. 
Burgmiiller,  N.  154. 
Buus,  Jachet  de  4. 
Buxtehude,  D.  39.  47. 
Byrde,  see  Bird. 


Cabinet  Pianos  272. 

Caccini,  G.  15. 

Cadenzas  (Mozart)  102. (Beethoven)  137. 203. 

Canarie  68. 

Canon  8.  95.  107.  108.  162.  174. 

Canon  (instr.),  see  Errata. 


Canzona  (Canzone)  4.  7.  17. 

Canzoni  villanesche,   napolitane,    francesi 

ID. 

Capriccios  17.  66.  143-4. 

Cavaliere,  Emilio  del  15. 

Celestino  255. 

Cembalo  225. 

Cembalo  angelico  250  ;  —  onnicordo  237, 

Chaconne,  Ciacona  10.  68,  200. 

Champion  de  Chambonnieres  26.  31. 

Chaulieu,  F.  149. 

Chiroplast  150.  282. 

Chopin,  F.  F.  106.  156.   160. 

Chorton  (Chorus-pitch)  239.  250. 

Chroma  279. 

Chromaticists  38.  234. 

Chrysander,  F.  47. 

Church  modes  5.  238. 

Ciacona  10.  68.  200. 

Cibbini,  von  (nee  Kozeluch)  138. 

Cimbal  d'amour  265. 

Cimbali  piegatori  250. 

Claus  Szarvady,  Wilhelmine  145. 

Clavicembalo,  see  Plarpsichord. 

Clavecin,  Clavessin  225. 

Clavecin  acoustique  252. 

Clavecin  a  maillets  251.  261. 

Clavecin  bris6  250.  258. 

Clavecin  double  252-3. 

Clavecin  harmonieux  252. 

Clavecin  harmonique  255. 

Clavecin  m6canique  273. 

Clavecin  en  peau  de  buffle  249. 

Clavecin  royal  250.  252. 

Claviarium  217. 

Clavicembalo,  see  Harpsichord. 

Clavichord    217.    219-223.    227.   230.    244. 

(Cut  on  p.  363.) 
Clavicitherium  227.  (Cut  on  p.  364.) 
Clavicymbalum  universale  231. 
Clavier  12-14.  16.  32.  33.  225.  226. 
Clavier,  History  of  215. 
Clavier  Methods,  see  Text-books. 
Clavier,  Name,  Parts  216. 
Clavis  216-7. 

Clementi,  M.  20.  78.  91.  93-96.  105. 
Coclico,  Adr.  petit  10. 
Concertos  45.  46.  75.  90.  98.  99.  loi.  109, 

III.   117.    119.   120.   123.   124.   131.  137. 

139.     141.     143.     145.    147.    152   (for  2 

pianos).   158.   174.    175.    176.  177.  178. 

194.  195.  200.  201.  202.  204.  205.  206. 


571     — 


Concert  6tudes  io6.  146.  158.  184. 

Concert  grands  27S;  Liszt's  284. 

Concertstiicke  139.  163.  185. 

Conserv'atories  170  4. 

Contrapunto  6. 

Correggio,  C.  M.  da  6. 

Corrente,  Courante  65. 

Cortona  di  Roma  259. 

Cosa  rara,  see  Waltz. 

Cottage  pianos  272. 

Counterpoint,  Theory  of  11.  107.  209. 

Couperin,  Charles  27. 

Couperin,  Francois  26-7. 

Couperin,  Francois  (le  Grand)  27.  31.  (Mus. 

App.)  326. 
Couperin,  Louis  26.  27. 
Couplet  68. 

Courante,  see  Correate. 
Cracovienne  158. 
Cramer,  H.  154. 
Cramer,  J.  B.  96.  104. 
Creed  281. 
Crescendo  140. 
Cristofori,  Bartolomeo  256.  258.  (Cut  on  p. 

366.) 
Croma  (Society),  properly  Chroma. 
Cui,  C.  207. 
Cyclic  compositions  10. 
Cymbal  2i8.  223.  225  {Dulcimer.)  (Cut  on 

p.  362.) 
Czerny,  C  105.  127. 
Czerny,  J.   138. 
Czerwinsky.A.  70. 

D. 

Dance-forms,  the  earlier  65-71. 

Dances  51.  64.  65.   124.   134.   141.   175.  179. 

200.  201.  203.  204. 
Dandrieu,  J.  F.  48. 
Danse  macabre  205. 
Daquin,  L.  C.  30. 
Dargomirsky,  A.  207. 
Davidsbundler  161. 
Debain  279. 
Dehn,  S.  W.   108. 
Devrient  144. 
Diabelli,  A.  120. 
Digital  216  217.  221. 
Diruta,  P.  G.  12. 
Dohler,  Th.  128. 
Domenico  da  Pesaro  236.  259. 
Doring,  H.  175. 


Dorn,  Adele  151. 

Dorn,  H.  106.  160. 

Double  67. 

Double  escapement  274. 

Double  harpsichord  249. 

Double  piano  279. 

Draeseke,  F.  176. 

Dramatic  Pianoforte-style  114.  115. 

Drehleier  (Hurdy-gurdy)  254. 

Dreyschock,  A.  133. 

Dubois  150. 

Dulce  melos  225. 

Dulcimer  218.  225.  255  (Pantaleon).  (Cut 

on  p.  362.) 
Dulcken,  J.  D.  248. 
Dunstable,  J.,  treatise  by  24  (note). 
Duos   for  2  pianofortes  60.   62.   137.   144. 

152.  162.  200.  202. 
Duos  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin,  Viola,  or 

Basso  45.  46.  90.    117.    124.    125.   140. 

142.   144.   145.   153.  174.   175.  176.  204. 

205.  206.  207. 
Duos,  see  also  Four  hands. 
Dupont  A.  177. 

Durante,  F.  19.  22.  (Mus.  App.)  304. 
Dussek,  J.  L.  98.  105. 
Duvernoy,  J.  B.  154. 
Dvorak,  A.  179. 


Easy  Pieces  64.  89.  140.   148.   162.  163.  164. 

174.  175.  176.  180.  199.  204. 
Eberl,  A.  103. 

Ecclesiastical  Modes  5.  238. 
Eckart,  J.  G.  81.  147-8. 
Eckert,  C.  107. 
Eclogues,  Eglogues  132.  167. 
Ehlert,  L.  176.   194. 
Ehrlich,  H.  171.  174. 
Eight  hands,  Pieces  for  128. 
Eitner,  R.  32. 
Engramelle,  Friar  282. 
England,  Pianoforte-making  in  271-2. 
English   Action,    272.    273-4.     (Cut   on    p. 

368.) 
English  School  of  Clavier-playing,  earlier 

24. 
Entree  67. 
Epinette  225. 

Equal  Temperament  44.  232-244. 
Erard,  Jean  Baptiste  273. 
Erard,  Sebastien  273-4. 


—    372    — 


Erbach,  Ch.  34. 

Eschmann,  J.  C.  177, 

Espinette  225.  231. 

Essipoff,  Annette  179. 

Esterhazy,  N.  J.,  Prince  77. 

Etudes   (also  comp.    Text-books)  95.    loi. 

102.  104.  105-6.   107.  112.  113.  128.   129. 

130.  133-8.  146.  152.   153.  155.  158.  162. 

167.  168.  169.  176-179.  184.  187.  202. 

F. 

faber,  D.  T.  246. 

Faisst,  I.  62.  108. 

Fancie  25. 

Fantasias  4.   6.   8.   89.    123.    131.    145.   158. 

162.  164,  202.  203.  207. 
Fantasias,  Free,  see  Improvisation. 
Fantasiestiicke,    162.    163.    168.    175.     176. 

177.   178. 
Farnaby  25. 
Fasch,  C.  54. 
Fattorini,  G.  12. 
Faux-bourdon  11. 
Ferrari  131. 
F6tis,  J.  G.  108.  138. 
Field,  J.  94.  108-110. 
Finale  122. 
Fingering  12.  13.  46.  55.  567.  102.  149.  188- 

190. 
Fleischer  245.  251. 
Florence  3. 
Fliigel,    Fortepiano    and    Clavichord   225. 

266  etc.  (Cut  on  p.  365.) 
Flugel,  G.  168. 
Folies  d'Espagne  27.  66. 
Folk-song  9.  177.  178.  186.  187.  204. 
Fontaine,  Mortier  de  176. 
Forkel  175. 
Forlana  68. 
Form,  lack  of  126-7. 
Fortbien  267. 

Fortepiano,  see  Pianoforte. 
Forte  pedal  216. 
Four  hands.  Pieces  for  52.  53.  62.  85.  89.  90. 

104.    112.   120.   125.    128.    131.   136.  137. 

140.   145.    152.    163.    164.   165.   166.  167. 

174.    176.  177.    178.    179.    199.   200.  201. 

204.  206. 
France,  Pianoforte-making  in  272-5. 
Franck,  C.  A.  166. 
Franck,  E.  171. 
Franck,  M.  34. 


Franco  of  Cologne  234. 
Frederick  II,  King  43.  54. 
Frederick  William  II,  King,  86.  116. 
French  School  of  Clavier-playing,  earlier 

26. 
Frescobaldi,  G.  16.  17.  18.  (Mus.  App.)  293. 
Friederici,  C.  E.  44.  252.  267. 
Friedheim,  A.  196. 

Froberger,  J.  17.  34.  47.  (Mus.   App.)  330. 
Fugue,  8.  9.   10.    46.   71.   95.    106-7-8.   144. 

162-3. 
Fumagalli,  A.  131. 
Furia  68. 
Fux,  J.  J.  63.  108. 

G. 

Gabrieli,  Andrea  7. 

Gabrieli,  Giovanni  7. 

Gade,  Niels  W.  178. 

Galilei,  V.  15. 

Galliarde,  Gagliarda  10.  26.  33.  68. 

Gallois,  le  26. 

Galop  178.  199. 

Galop  chromatique  186. 

Gambenwerke  254, 

Gasparini,  F.  18.  48. 

Gassenhauer  68. 

Gautier  26. 

Gavotte  67. 

Gebunden  267. 

Geigenwerke  254. 

Gelinek,  J.  88.  93. 

German  Action  269  (Cut  on  p.  368.) 

German  Dances  70. 

German  School  of  Clavier-playing  14.   15. 

31-47- 
Gernsheim,  F.  178. 
Gibbons,  O.  25.  (Mus.  App.)  321. 
Giga,  Gigue  66. 
Giles  25. 

Glasharmonica  98. 
Glinka  283. 

Goddard,  Arabella  179. 
Goldschmidt,  S.  133. 
Gorlier,  S.  33. 
Graces,  see  Agrements. 
Gradus  ad  Parnassum  95. 
Gradener,  C.  166. 
Graf,  C.  277. 
Grand  Pianofortes  278. 
Gravecembalo  225.  231.  (Col  piano  e  forte) 

259- 


—    373     — 


Greiner,  J.  C.  255. 
Greulich,  C.  W.  106. 
Grieg,  Edvard  Ilagerup  178.  203-4. 
Grosscurth,  E.  197. 
Guide-main,  see  Chiroplast. 
Guido  d'Arezzo  220.  229.  233. 
Gumpeltzhaimer,  A.  34. 
Gutrnann,  156. 

H. 

Haberbier.  E.  105. 

Hackbrett.  see  Dulcimer. 

Handel,  G.  F.  20.  40.  47. 

Halle,  C.  180. 

Hammers  216. 

Hammer-clavier  223.  256. 

Hand-guide,  see  Chiroplast. 

Hands  and  Finger,  manner  of  holding  57. 
188. 

Hardelle  26. 

Harmonica  98. 

Harmony,  Theory  of  VH.  Ii.  48.  91  (foot- 
note). 209. 

Harpichord  225. 

Harpsichord  217.  223.  244.  (Cut  on  p.  364). 

Hartmann,  E.  179. 

Hasler,  H.  L.  33. 

Hasse,  J.  A.  (il  Sa3Sone)20. 

Hiissler,  J.  W.  61.  64.  89. 

Hauptmann,  M.  108.  138. 

Haydn,  Joseph  75-80. 

Hebenstreit,  Pantaleon  256-7. 

Heiden,  J.  254. 

Heinichen,  48. 

Helicon  219. 

Heller,  St.  168. 

Helmholtz,  H.  242. 

Hensel,  Fanny  144-5. 

Henselt,  A.  105.  146. 

Hering,  C.  174. 

H6rold  149. 

Herrmann,  J.  D.  97. 

Herz,  H.  150.  152-3.  279. 

Herz,  J.  159. 

Hessel  98. 

Hiller,  F.  112.  144.  171. 

Himmel,  F.  H.  117. 

Historical  Concerts  114.  192. 

Hoch,  Dr.  172. 

Hofhaimer,  P.  32. 

Hof mann  252. 

Hohlfeld.  J.  255.  281. 


Hopfe,  J.  174. 

Hoppeltanz  70. 

Hopper  (Grasshopper)  216. 

Horak,  E.  172. 

Hiibner,  J.  Ch.  255. 

Hiillmandel,    N.   J.    61.    148.  (Mus.    App.j 

346. 
Hummel,  J.  N.  90.  92.  110-112. 
Humor  in   music  76-7. 

Humoresques  168.  169.  174.  175.  204.  206. 
Humphry,  P.  25. 
Huni  and  Hubert  277. 
Hiinten,  F,  150.  152.  153-4. 
Hupfauf  70. 
Hurdy-gurdy  254. 

I. 

Idyls  113.   134.  176.  178. 

Impromptus  113.   124.    125.   133.    136.    146. 

158.  161.  199. 
Improvisation  58.  97.  iii.  117.  118.  137. 
Instruction-books,  see  Te.xt-books. 
Instrument  (Clavier)  33,  and  Note. 
Instrumenti  da  penna  5. 
Intonazioni  8. 
Intrata  66. 
Isaac,  li.  33. 
Italian  School  of   Clavier-playing,  earlier 

3; — modern  20. 

J- 
Jack  216. 

Jadassohn,  S.  170.  194. 

Jadin,  H.  149. 

Jadin,  L.  E.  149. 

Jaell,  A.  176. 

Jah   ,  O.  81.  92. 

Jahns,  F.  W.  141. 

Janko,  P.  von  280. 

Janko  Keyboard  276.  280. 

Jansen  165. 

Jensen,  A.  176.  194. 

Joseffy,  R.  145.  194. 

Josquin  Despres,  theory  of  Counterpoint, 

10-12. 
Jugendalbum  etc.  163.  164. 
Jiirgensen,  J.  G.  252. 

K. 

Kalkbrenner,  F.  94.  150. 
Kammer-  and  Kirchensonate  66. 
Kammerton  239.  250. 


—    374 


Karajan,  Th.  G.  So. 
Karasowski,  i6o. 
Karer-Rapoldi,  Laura  175. 
Karr,  H.  154. 
Kerl,  J.  K.  37.  47- 
Key  (digital)  216-217.  221. 
Kiel,  F.  108. 
Kielflugel  225. 
Kinderscenen  162. 
Kirchner,  Th.  166. 
Kirkman  271  (foot-note). 
Kirmair,  F.  J.  89. 
Kirnberger,  J.  P.  47.  55.  64. 
Kittel,  J.  Ch.  47. 
Kittl,  J.  F.  133. 
Klengel,  A.  A.  94.  107. 
Klindworth,  K.  172.  194. 
Knorr,  J.  160. 
Koch,  E.  198. 
Kochel,  L.  von  92. 
Kohler,  L.  134. 
Kontski,  A.  von  155. 
Kosciusko-Polonaise  159. 
Kozeluch,  L.  85.  92.  102. 
Krakoviak  158. 
Kramer,  252. 
Krause,  M.  196-7. 
Krebs,  J.  L.  47. 
Krebs,  Marie  175. 
Kreisleriana  162. 
Kroll,  F.  45.  194. 
Kriiger,  W.  155. 
Kuhe,  W.  179. 
Kuhlau,  F.  103. 
Kuhnau,  J.  48.  64. 
Kullak,  Th.   106.  129.  171. 
Kunstpedal  279. 
Kutzing,  C.  217. 


Lachnith,  L.  \V.  149. 
Lacombe,  L.  169. 
Lambert,  M.  de  Saint  48. 
Lampadius  144. 
Landini,  F.  3. 
Lanaler,  see  Waltz. 
Langaus,  70. 
Lautenclavier  252. 
Lebert,  S.  172. 
Lebert- Stark  105. 

Left  hand,   Stiulies   for  the  128.   134.   151. 
167.   179. 


Lemme,  K.  246.  252. 

Leonhard,  J.  E.  175. 

Leschetitzki,  Th.  179. 

Lessmann,  O.  194. 

L'Etendart,  N.  154. 

Liadoff,  A.  207. 

Liedform  50. 

Lira  pagana,  rustica,  tedesca  254'(note). 

Liszt,  Franz  106.  180-91. 

Liszt's  pianofortes  284-5. 

Litolff,  H.  138. 

Logier,  J.  B.  150.  283. 

Ldhlein,  G.  S.  59. 

Look,  M.  48. 

Loschhorn,  A.  107. 

Louis  Ferdinand,  Prince  of  Prussia  99. 

Loure  67. 

Lucchesi,  A.  81. 

Luhrs,  C.  145. 

Luscinius,  O,  230. 

Lute-clavier  252, 

Luzzaschi,  L.  12,  16. 

Lyra,  see  Lira. 

Lyrical  Clavier-style  75. 

M. 

Maas,  L.  145. 

Madrigal,  4.  7. 

Maichelbeck,  F.  A.  59. 

Majer,  Caspar  13. 

Major  and  Minor  Keys,  the  modern  17.  19. 

39- 
Manicordo  225. 
Manieren,  see  Agr6ments. 
Mannstadt,  F.  171. 
Marchand,  L.  28.  (Mus.  App.)  328. 
Marchen  145.  164.  170. 
Marches  67.  163.  205. 
Marius  251.  260-2.  (Cut  on  p.  367.) 
Marpurg,  F.  W.  55.  59.  64.  108.  241. 
Marschner,  H.   142. 
Martin,  H.  154. 
Martin,  V.,  70. 
Martini,  F.  G.  108. 
Mason,  W.  194. 
Matthiii,  C.  39. 

Mattheson,  J.  39.  48.  50.  64.  240.  245. 
Mayer,  C.  no. 
Mazurkas,  158.  159   179.  206. 
Mehlig,  Anna  177. 
Melanges  149. 
Melograph  281.  282  (electric). 


575    — 


Melotrope  282. 

Mendelssohn-Barthokly,   F.  142-4. 
Menter-Popper,  Sophie  177. 
Mercia,  253. 

Merulo,  Claudio  6.  (Mus.  App.)  291. 
Methods  for  Pianoforte,  see  Text-books 
Meyer,  C.  A.  von  255. 
Meyer,  L.  von  177. 
Meyerbeer,  J.  136. 
Middelburg  245. 
Mietcke  245. 
Milchmayer,  J.  P.  253. 
Miller  278. 

Minuet,    Minuetto    51.     55.     66.    67     (from 
Poitou).  80.  122  (Beethoven).  167.  206. 
Modern  history  of  Clavier-playing  73. 
Modern  Keys  17.  19.  39. 
Modernizing  of  earlier  compositions  24. 
Modulation  53-4.  116. 
Moine,  H.  le  149. 
Moller  252. 

Moments  musicals  125. 
Monacord  (Clavicordo)  5.  225.  234. 
Mondini  259. 

Monochord  218.  219.  228-9. 
Mooser,  L.  264. 
Moresca,  Morisque  69. 
Moscheles,  I.  90.  105.   106.   136-8.  (Method) 

138. 
Moszkowski,  M.  172.  175. 
Mott  255. 

Mozart,  Leopold  80. 
Mozart,  Maria  Anna  80. 
Mozart,  Wolfgang  Amadeus  75.  80-93. 
Muffat,  George  38.  47. 
Muffat,  Gottlieb   38.    47.    63.    (Mus.    App.) 

336- 
Muller,  A.  E.  59.   102. 
Muller-Hartung,  Prof.  172. 
Murer,  B.  246. 
Muris,  Joannes  de  220.  234. 
Murky,  Murky-bass  70. 
Musette  68. 
Music-printing  32.  33. 
Music  trade  40.  51. 
Mussorgski,  M.  207. 
Miithel,  J.  G.  60. 


N. 


Nachtanz  70. 
Nachtstiicke   162. 
Naples  3. 


Naprawnik,  E.  207. 

Neefe,  Ch.  G.  115. 

Neidhardt,  J.  G.  238.  239-240. 

Nichelmann,  Ch.  54. 

Nicod6,  J.  L.  175. 

Niedt  48. 

Nissen,  G.  N.  von  92. 

Nocturnes  104.  109.  125.  129.   133.  136.  146. 

158.  166.  176.  177. 
Normann,  L.  179. 
Notation  IX-XI. 
Notograph  281. 
Noveletten  162.  179. 
Nowakowski,  J.  179. 

O. 

Obbligo  17. 

Octave-playing  106.  129.  134.  169. 

Octets  120.  202. 

Oesten,  Th.  154. 

Oesterlein,  J.  Ch.  250. 

Oginski,  M.  K.  159. 

Onslow    G.  90.  139. 

Orchestrine  255. 

Organistrum  (Hurdy-gurdy)  254. 

Organ  218  (Cut  on  p.  361). 

Organ-playing  IX.  3. 

Orphica  255. 

Osborne,  G.  A.  180. 

Overstrung  pianofortes  278 

Overture  66.  154. 


Pachelbel,  J.  37.  47. 

Padovano,  Annibale  7. 

Paduane  68. 

Paganini  183. 

Pantaleon  or  Pantalon  254.  256. 

Paolucci,  F.  G.  108. 

Pape,  H    275. 

Papperitz,  R.  C.  170. 

Parabosco,  G.  4. 

Paradies   P.  D.  23.  (Mus.  App.) 308. 

Parish-Alvars  130. 

Parthenia  25.  26. 

Parties  165. 

Partite    Parthien,  see  Suites. 

Partition  de  Piano  193. 

Paspy  67. 

I'astjuini,  B.  16.  18.  20.  (Mus.  App.)  2c 

Passacaglia,  Passecaille  68. 

Passamezzo  10.  33.  68. 


—    376 


Passepied  67. 

Pastorale  68. 

Pauer,  E.  25.  31.  113-114. 

Paul,  O.  170. 

Paulmann,  C.  31. 

Pavane  25.  68. 

Pedal    (use  of)   137  ;     (invention    of j    246. 

(loud  and  soft)  216-217. 
Pedal-pianoforte,  Studies  for  the,  162. 
Penna,  L.  13. 
Periodicals,  musical  50- 1. 
Pfesaro,  Fr.  da  4  ; — Domenico  da  259. 
Petri,  J.  S.  59. 
Pianino  275.  276.  278. 
Piano  6olien  279. 
Pianoforte  21.  60.  73.  83.  217  (hand-books). 

256  etc. 
Pianograph  281. 
Piano  Mangeot  279. 
Piano  organist  273. 
Piano  st6nographe  281. 
Piano-violin  254. 
Pinner,  M.  194. 
Piutti,  C.  170. 
Pi.xis,  J-  P-  i'4- 
Plaidy,  L.  170. 
Pleyel,  Ignaz  77.  78.  97.  274. 
Pleyel,  Camille,  274. 
Pleyel,  Marie  C.  112. 
Pneumatisches  Saiteninstrument  280. 
Pohl,  C.  F.  80.  92. 
Pohlig,  C.  196. 
Polkas  134.  199. 
Pollini,  G.  F.  130. 

Polonaises  70.  140.  158.  159.  176.  179. 
Polychorda  217. 
Poly  plectra  217. 
Ponsicchi  26a. 
Potocka,  D.,  Countess  158. 
Potpourris  149. 
Pouleau  255. 
Pradher,  L.  B.   150. 
Praetorius,  H.  34. 
Praetorius,  M.  8.  230-1.  250. 
Preludes  8.  66.  158.  167.  168.  203. 
Prima-vista  playing  135. 
Program-music  169.  1S3. 
Programs  173-4. 
Proksch,  J.  134. 
Prolongation-pedal  279. 
Proteus  237. 
Pruckner,  D.  194. 


Prudent,  E.  155. 

Psaltery  218.  223.  228. 

Puliti,  Leto  258-9. 

Purcell,  H.  25  (Mus.  App.)  323. 

Puzzles,  musical  108. 

Pythagoreans  232. 


Quartets  75.77.90.  104.  123.  142.  143.  145. 

147.  162.  177.  179.  194.   199.  205.  207. 

Quintets  90.   104.    112.   123.   125.   142.  145. 

162.  169.  194.  199.  202.  205. 

R. 

Radecke,  R.  138.  171. 

Radzivvill,  A.,  Prince  157. 

Rathsel,  musikalische  108. 

Raff,  J.  198-200. 

Raif,  O.   194. 

Rameau,  J.  Ph.  26.  30-31   (compositions). 

48.  147.  241. 
Ramann,  L.  191.  208. 
Ratzenberger,  Th.  194. 
Ravina,  H.  154. 
Registers,  see  Stops. 
Reichardt,  J.  F.  64. 
Reigen  or  Reihen  70. 
Reinecke,  C.  145. 
Reinken,  J.  A.  42. 
Reirienauer,  A.  196. 
Reissiger,  C.  G.  141. 
Reissmann,  A.  165. 
Remmert,  M.  197. 
Rendering  58.  123.  157.  208. 
Repetition  action  (Erard's)  274. 
Rhapsodies  132.  146.  155.  201. 
Rhapsodies  hongroises  187. 
Ricercare  4.  6.  9.  17. 
Ricercata  9. 
Richter,  A.  170. 
Richter,  E.  F.  loS. 
Ries,  F.  119. 

Rigaudon,  Riggadoon  67. 
Rimbault  E.  F.  26. 
Rimsky-Korsakoff  207. 
Risch,  G.  M.  254. 
Rollig  255. 
Rome  3. 
Romaiiesca  68. 
Romantic  Style  156. 
Rondeau,  Rondo  51.  53-4.  67.  109.  122.  125. 

144.  158.  161. 


—    377 


Rore,  Cipriano  de  6. 

Roseler  (in  Turin)  277. 

Rosellen,  H.  150.  152.  153-4. 

Rosenhain,  J.   168.  176. 

Rosenthal,  M.  195. 

Rota  254  (note). 

Roth,  B.  175.  196. 

Rubinstein,  Anton  106.    172.  173.  201- 

Rubenstein,  N.  179. 

Ruckers  Family  (Antwerp)  247  8. 

Rufer,  P.  B.  175. 

Ruhhnann,  J.  175. 

Rummell,  F.  178. 


Sabbatini,  G.  48. 
Saiiit-Saens,  C.  180.  205-6. 
Saitenchor  (Unison)  217. 
Salon-music  106-7.   '12.  113.   120.  129.  134. 
137.   140.    144.   146.   152.   155.  163.  166. 
167-170.    174.    177.   178.    179.   180.    185. 
192.  198-207. 
Saltarello  69. 
Salterio  tedesco  223. 
Sainbuke  (Sanibuca)  223. 
Sandt,  M.  v.  de  196. 
Sarabande  65. 
Sassone,  il  20. 
Sauer,  E.  176.  196. 
Scaliger,  J.  C.  224. 
Scarlatti,  A.  19. 
Scarlatti,  D.  19.  20. 
Schachner,  R.  180. 
Schaffer,  J.  176. 

Scharwenka,  P.  and  X.  171.  174.  194. 
Scheldt,  S.  34. 
Scherzo  80.    123.    131.    137.   146.    158.    199. 

200. 
Schiedmayer  &  Sons  277. 
Schiller  and  A.  Streicher  269. 
Schlick,  A.  32. 
Schmeil  282. 
Schmid,  B.  33. 
Schmitt,  A.  105.  135. 
Schmitt,  G.  A.  136. 
Schmitt,  J.  136. 
Schnell,  279. 

SchobertSi.  93.  147.  (Mus.  App.)  340. 
Scholtz,  H.  175. 
Schools  of  Clavier-playing  : 

Earlier  Italian  3. 

Earlier  English  24. 


Schools  of  Clavier-playing: 
Earlier  French  26. 
Earlier  German  31. 
Schreit-or  Schleiftiinze  70. 
Schroder,  C.  II.  286. 
Schroter,  G.  258.  262.  (Cut  on  p.  367.) 
Schubart,  Ch.  F.  1).  S4. 
Schubert,  Franz  124  126. 
Schuler,  C.  196. 
Schulhoff,  J.   134. 
Schumann,  R.  160-5. 
Schunke,  L.  160-1. 
Schwarz,  Max  172. 
Schweighofer's  Wittwe  277. 
Schweinskopf  225.  231. 
Score  X. 

Semi-grands  (Ger.  "  Stutzflugel  ")  272.  278. 
Senfl,  L.  33. 

Septet,  Septuor  112.  iig.  120.  133.  206. 
Serenades  113.  131.  144.  155. 
Sgambati,  G.  194. 
vShif ting-pedal  217.  250. 
Shudi  271. 
Siciliano  68. 

Sievers,  G.  F.  (of  Naples)  277. 
Silbermann,  Andreas  263. 
Silbermann,  Gottfried  21.  258.  262.  263-7V 
Siloti,  A.  von  196. 
Simikon  218. 

Sinfonia,  Symphonie  8.  63.  66.  7t;.  22V  231. 
Sinn,  Ch.  A.  241. 
Six  hands,  pieces  for  128. 
Sixteen  hands,  pieces  for  134. 
Sonata  7.  8.  20.  21.  22.  25.  45.  49.  50-56.  62. 

66.  71.  74.  89.  90.  94.  95.  98.  100.  loi. 

103.   104.   109.   112.   113.   115.   120.   121. 

125.   128.   133.   140.   143.   145.   147.   148, 

152.   158.   163.   174.   175.    176.   177.   178. 

194.  200.  201.  202.  203.  204.  207. 
Sonata  da  camera,  da  chiesa  66. 
Sonata-form  20.  21.  22-3.  45.  49.  50.  53.  62. 

80.  89.  103.  121-3. 
Song-form  50.  51. 

Songs  without  Words   143-4.    145.    146.  166. 
Sostenute-Piano  255. 
Spath,  F.  J.  252. 
Spiith,  J.  A.  267. 
Spindler,  F.  175. 
Spinet  218.  224.  231. 
Spiiietto  225. 
Spitta,  P.  47. 
Spohr,  L.  142. 


-    378    - 


Springtanze  70. 

Square  Pianofortes  272.  274.  276.  278. 

Stark,  L.  172. 

Stavenhagen,  B.  196. 

Steertstuck  225. 

Steibelt,  D.  89.  97.  118. 

Stein,  C.  277. 

Stein,  J.  A.  83,  148,  253,  267-9. 

Steinvvay  &  Sons  (in  New  York)  276. 

Steinway,  H.  (in  Brunswick)  276. 

Sterkel,  Abb6,  J.  F.  X..  84. 

Stern,  J.  171. 

Stimmungsbilder  169.  20S. 

Stodart  272.  278. 

Stolzel,  G.  H.  52.  (Mas.  App.)  338. 

Stopel,  F.  151. 

Stops  (on  Harpsichord  etc.)  246-7. 250-3.  273. 

Strauss,  R.  177. 

Streicher,  Andreas  269-271. 

'Streicher,  E.  277. 

Streicher,  Nanette  nee  Stein  270. 

Strings,  material  of  278. 

Stutzflugel  272.  278. 

Style  61.  123.  157.  209. 

Suites  10.  41.  46.  56.  64.  65.  165.  178.  195. 

199.  200.  203.  204.  205. 
Susato,  T.  69.  71. 
iSymphony,  see  Sinfonia. 

T. 

Tabel  271. 

Tablature,  German  and  Italian  XI.  12.  32. 

33-  34- 
Tallis,  Th.  24.  (Mus.  App.)  314. 
Tambourine  68. 
Tangents  216. 
Tangenten-Flugel  252. 
Tarantella  69.  129.   131.  135.   138.   158.175. 

185. 
Taskin,  Pascal  249. 
Taubert,  W.  106. 
Tausig,  Karl.  VI.  96.  193. 
Tedesco,  I.  134. 
Temperament,  equal  and  unequal  44.  232- 

244. 
Temperament,  Treatises  on  242  (note). 
Tempo  rubato    (with    Mozart)    85;    (with 

Chopin)  157. 
Text-books  56.  59.  98.  loi.  102.  104-6.  108. 

112.  128.  129.  130-1.  134.  136.  145.  146. 

149.  151.   153.   174.  177.   178.   184.   189. 

190.  208.  209.  238. 


Thalberg,  S.  129. 

Theorben-Fliigel  252. 

Thorn  &  Allen  278. 

Thorough-bass  12.  15.  39.  48.  58. 

Three  hands.  Pieces  for  89. 

Timanoff,  V.  194.  197. 

Toccata  7.  19.66.  161. 

Tomaschek,  J.  W.  132. 

Tonhaltungspedal   (prolongation-  pedal) 

279. 
Transcriptions  186.  204. 
Transposing  clavicembalo  258. 
Tremolando  97. 
Trill  57. 

Trio  (in  Minuet)  67. 
Trios  40.    90.   107.   108.   112.   113.  116.  120. 

124.  125.  129.  141-2.  143.   145.  158.  163. 

165.  166.   168.   169.    174.    176.   179.  194. 

200.  201.  202.  205.  207. 
Tschaikowsky,  P.  204.  206-7. 
Tschudi,  B.  271. 
Tuning  of  clavier-strings  232. 
Turk,  D.  G.  59. 
Tympanum  223. 

U. 

Unison  (strings)  217. 
Universalinstrument  237. 
Urhan,  Ch.  182. 


Valses,  see  Waltzes. 

Variations  25.  41.  47.  51.  88.  loi.  I15-I16. 

120.  134.   137.   144-    152-    153-   158-    162. 

176.  200.  206.  207. 
Venice  3. 

Verhulst,  J.  J.  H.  145. 
Verschiebung  (shifting-pedal)  217.  250. 
Viadana,  L.  14.  15. 
Vicentino,  N.  6.  221.  231. 
Vielle  262  (note). 
Viennese  Action  83.  269. 
Viennese  Waltz  70. 
Villanella  68. 
Villoing,  A.  201. 
Virbiis,  de  252. 

Virdung,  Sebastian  221-2.  226-230. 
Virginal  5.  225.  231. 
Virginal  book.  Queen  Elizabeth's  25. 
Vis-a-vis  253. 
Vitry,  Ph.  de  234  (note). 
Vockerodt,  J.  A.  241. 


379 


Vogler,  Abb6,  G.J.  84.  93.  132. 
VoUweiler,  C.   135. 
Vollweiler,  G.  J.  112.  135. 
Volkmann,  F.  R.  166. 
Volkslieder,  see  Folk-songs 
Volksthumlich  68. 
Volta  68. 
Volumier  29. 
Voss,  C.  154. 

W. 

Wagenseil,  G.  Ch.  63.  81.  92. 

Wagner,  Ch.  S.  and  J.  G.  250. 

Waldscenen  163. 

Walker  255. 

Waltzes  70  (cosa  rara).  146.  158.  200. 

Wandelt,  L.  151. 

Wanhal,  J.  B.  63.  89.  102. 

Wasielevvski,  W.  J.  von  10  (note).  167. 

Weber,  C.  M.  von  1 39-141. 

Weber,  D.  133. 

Weber,  G.  194. 

Webster  278. 

Wegelius  172. 

Wfhle,  K.  155. 

Weitzmann,    C.    F.    (Biographical  Sketch) 

V.  '91  (foot-note).  108. 
Welcker  v.  Gontershausen  217. 


Well-tempered  Clavichord  44. 

Wendling  276. 

Wenzel,  E.  F.  170. 

Werckmeister,  A.  39.  48.  238. 

Wiclef  249. 

Wieck,  F.  160. 

Wieck,  Marie  175. 

Wieck-Schumann,  Clara  160.  172 

Wiener  Walzer  70. 

Willaert,  Adrain  4.  46. 

Willmers,  R.  113. 

Wilms,  J.  W.  89. 

Wilsing,  F.  E.  174. 

Wolf,  E.  W.  52. 

Wolf,  G.  F.  60. 

Wolfl,  J.  ICO,  117. 

Wiillner,  F.  171. 


Xanorphica  255. 


Zacharia,  E.  279. 
Zachau,  F.  W.  40.  47. 
Zarlino,  G.  6.  221.  235. 
Zarembski,  J.  de  196.  279, 
Zenti,  G.  231.  259. 
Zumpe,  J.  271. 


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